BWW Backstage Pets: SHAW SHURLEY and Ringo

Welcome to BACKSTAGE PETS, where upstate SC theatre artists share photos of their most loyal fans - their pets.

Theatre Artist: Shaw Shurley

Featured Role: Actor

Primary Venues: Greenville Theatre, SC Children's Theatre

Along with being a talented young actor, with memorable appearances as Oliver in OLIVER! and Les in NEWSIES, Shaw is your humble correspondent's son.

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Tell us about your pet.

Ringo is a smart and mischievous dog. He is part Dachshund and part Beagle. We got him in 2016. I remember sitting on the couch watching BONANZA and my Dad suddenly told me to pause and asked if me and my sister wanted to go to the humane society to adopt a dog. We of course said yes! We went to the humane society and looked around. We took a few dogs outside to play with but didn't adopt them because there was an event going that caused adoption time to end early. We went home and came back a few days later. We looked around and my sister found one little dog and brought the family to it. The dog was perfect. We decided to adopt him. That night, we invited our grandparents to come over for dinner and meet the dog. Naming the dog was an adventure. It took several weeks for us to decide on a name. We were at the pool and my dad just suddenly said, "Ringo!" We all agreed and Ringo became a true part of our family. Living with Ringo is...an experience. We love him and all, but he is vey energetic. His favorite activity is stealing things. Very often, MY things. Despite the occasional minor annoyance of chasing him throughout the house, trying to regain stolen items, I still love him very much. He can be sweet and calm and energetic and playful.

How is Ringo helping you cope?

Ringo helps me cope during this time by always being there with me. I might feel a little lonely but he is always there to cheer me up. Sometimes it is nice to just sit down and pet your dog for a while.

What are you doing to stay creative during quarantine?

I have been talking over FaceTime with my friend recently and we have been discussing our costuming builds. I love making costumes and we have been working on Mandalorian armor. I have been playing with legos, building props, and reading books. I like to make movies with my friends and the movie has been cut short due to social distancing, so I get on calls with my friends and we discuss what to do next.

What theatre experiences have you had to miss?

I was in the middle of rehearsals for a school play when school was closed. I was very disappointed because the show was going to be really fun and I got to work with an amazing cast of my friends. I have very little hope that the play will be rescheduled. This week was very sad because as of writing this, the play was scheduled to have been last night. But I am sure that there will be plenty of other awesome plays coming up that will make up for this one.

What role would you cast Ringo in and why?

If I cast Ringo in a role, I would cast him as Aladdin. Ringo is a thief who is really not a bad person, or dog, at heart.