[media-credit name=”Serina Duarte, Photo Editor” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Josie Kane, the cheerful cook in the SWC cafeteria, works hard all day feeding starving students and famished faculty. Like most folks, she enjoys plopping into a comfortable chair at day’s end.

Only her favorite seat is the director’s chair.

For Kane, “cut” not only means to slice bread, but to end a scene on the stage. Theater and food may seem like two distinct servings, but for Kane both are nourishing.

In September Kane directed the critically-acclaimed production of “He Ain’t Done Right by Nell,” a classic Western melodrama written by Wilbur Braun in 1919. She staged the period piece for the Lemon Grove Historical Society to help the organization earn a grant from the County of San Diego. Humorous, well-staged and true to the form, Kane’s melodrama was a step back onto the wooden saloon stages of Tombstone, Arizona or Dodge City, Kansas.

Her involvement with theater dates back to childhood.

“I started in theater when I was a kid with my folks,” said Kane. “We’re very active with our church and that’s where I first started theater.”

Technical theatre artists know there is at least as much action behind the scenes as out on the stage.

“I kinda found my niche doing backstage stuff,” said Kane, “everything on the other side of the curtain or behind the walls.”

Joe Fighera, director of food services, said he has always known of Kane’s interest in theater.

“She enjoys that,” said Fighera. “Josie is a long-time employee and an asset to our team.”

Originally from Cherokee, Iowa, Kane earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from Clarke College in Dubuque. She moved to San Diego in 1982 with her Navy husband and landed a job as an hourly food service worker at SWC in August 1983. Kane became a full-time SWC employee in 2000.

During that time she was very involved with OnStage Productions, a community theater in Chula Vista. Her stage career mellowed, however, due to her work at SWC.

“I get up at 4 o’clock to come to work here by 6,” said Kane. “I have trouble doing the late nights, I guess, that’s why I don’t do theater as much as I used to.”

Nonetheless, she said she had no plans of taking a final bow from the stage.

“I never wanna say ‘Never, I would never do theater again,’ because that’s just not true,” she said.

Kane has a college degree and experience in theater, but has remained a loyal member of the SWC cafeteria crew. For her, the utmost virtue is service, she said, and working at SWC has provided contentment.

“I didn’t pursue theatre as a way to make a living probably because I didn’t have the confidence to go somewhere else like New York or even Los Angeles that has a lot of theatres,” she said.

Rosalyn Diaz, a medical office administrator student, said she met Kane at the old snack bar.

“She’s a great worker,” said Diaz. “She’s very friendly, and interacts with students and employees.”

Co-worker Gerardo Lorenzo, 20, a radiation science major, said he was not aware of Kane’s theater background.

“I am very shocked,” said Lorenzo. “I did not expect that from her. She’s quiet and she looks passionate when she’s cooking, so I thought that was her major.”

Kane said she hears that a lot. Just as hungry students are more interested in the food than the cook, theatre fans often fawn over actors and forget about the playwrights and directors. Whether she is calling the shots in the cafeteria or the theatre, Kane knows the show must go on.