They say a bite from the acting bug is terminal. And given the number of area artists who started treading the boards as mere babes, I'd have to agree.

"At first, my mom just enrolled my sister and me in mime and drama classes for something to do," explains Kristan Raymond Robinson, one of New Hampshire's most prolific and respected stage actresses, as well as the movie reviewer for Foster's Daily Democrat. "What kept me coming back was the arena for self-expression and exploration that theater provided."

Billy Butler, recently director of "The Last Five Years" and currently director of "StarCrossed" at the Players' Ring, says that the experience was more important than the details. "I don't remember where it was, or for what," he says. "But my mom brought me to an audition when I was nine, and that was it... I was hooked."

Raymond Robinson strove hard to be like the awe-inspiring professionals around her. "We were always expected to work hard, focus and be committed to the show. Kids were never condescended to or underestimated.

With more education, training and life experience, she began to be able to bring more to the roles she was offered. "I did Juliet at 14, which is definitely age appropriate, but I really struggled with the role, because some of the emotions and experiences that character endures are things that I had not experienced yet in my own life," she says. A graduate of the prestigious Smith College, education has served her well in her art. Information in general, she says, allows you a better understanding of the human being you're portraying. "Never stop learning," she strongly advises.

Butler had a similar experience. "Everyone always treated me really well. Like a fellow artist."

When asked if there was anyone he tried to emulate as a child, Butler opted for a coy answer. "Let's just say...I learned a lot of what not to do," he quipped.

Unlike Raymond Robinson and Butler, Kate Kirkwood, actor, teacher and director, found little support when she told her family she wanted to pursue a life in the theater.

"When I went to college, I had to study music, as my parents wouldn't pay if I studied theater. I wasn't much of a musician, but they figured at least you could teach music. No one taught theater in those days. I only lasted one semester as a music major."

When asked how child acting compared with adult acting, Kirkwood pondered for a moment. "I think I was actually treated better as a child actor, because it was in a small town in Massachusetts. It was unusual and 'cool' to be able to act. Then, as a young adult, I was in New York where every other young girl walking down the street was a talented actor, so I didn't feel special anymore, and I was pretty much treated like one of the herd."

Being one of the herd is the antithesis of Kirkwood's personality, so she went into the business world for a while. It wasn't long before the stage was calling again. When Elliott Baker's "Dr. Doolittle" was produced at the Firehouse in Newburyport, Mass., in the summer of 2000, she jumped onboard; immediately following that was a turn in "Graceland," one of the Players' Ring Late Night shows; the following year she directed an original piece, "Gender, Bender," again at the Players' Ring, and performed in several other pieces. Off and running, she has barely stopped to take a breath since, recently starring in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie."

Sometimes a young person is drawn to this form of expression to find a way to express themselves during the John Cusack years-the difficult and trying times we go through in adolescence. But other times, the reason a child wants to act is simple, as Kirkwood's daughter, Jessica Bagdon, 11, attests. "My mom started acting again and I thought it might be fun to try it." I directed not only Kirkwood and the talented Jessica, but also the luminous Samantha Bagdon in "Miss Jean Brodie." Jessica and Samantha have both performed in "A Christmas Carol" at the Players' Ring (2002), as well as "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz," "Anastasia Krupnik," "Our Town" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream (2003-04, all pieces), all touring pieces that took them around the state.

There are teens in the area who are already looking ahead to the future. Camden Brown, late of "Once on This Island" and "Wind in the Willows" (both at Seacoast Repertory Theatre) and "Lysistrata" (Players' Ring) not only has several musicals and children's shows under his belt, but he already has a student film in the can and New England Models Group is anxious to sign him. When asked by the agent what his goals were, he said, "I want to form a strong base in the theater, and then segue into film." The agent looked more closely at his resume and then told him, "I don't know how to tell you this...but you've already got a strong base in the theater."

Just because a role is written for a young adult doesn't mean it's not challenging. Ask Brian Lovejoy, who's currently rehearsing The Bell Center Player's first professional production, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change."

"My first acting role was in a high school production of 'Teahouse of the August Moon.' The play is about American occupation during World War II. I played an Okinawan, and all my lines were in Japanese," he remembers. He also recalls it wasn't easy being a guy in the theater as a teen. "Since most of my early experience was in high school theater, I was surrounded by other actors of the same age. In this setting you have the various school cliques: jocks, nerds, theater geeks. Those in the same circle as me were supportive and those outside, of course, looked down on us. These would be the same people that would put out $6 to go to a movie and watch other guys act. I wonder if it ever occurred to them where most of these guys get their start."

His first role, as Action in Seacoast Repertory Theatre's "West Side Story," did little to endear him to the jocks who tormented him in the hallways of his school. "That's how it was then."

So what to do, if you're a teen dying to leap into the world of play?

"Everyone has their own methods and techniques that work for them. Sample them. Find the things that really work for you and help you to be as good as you can," advises Raymond Robinson. Kirkwood adds, "Don't take it (or yourself) too seriously-study something else, too, just in case you want to make more money, or have a more traditional life at some point in your life. I have an MBA, and I can't tell you how often I have been glad of that. It has enabled me to earn extra money over the years by teaching or consulting."

"Be it. Do it. And never apologize for your art," Butler says, in answer to the same question. Most importantly, they all insist, "Enjoy it!"

In a world where TV has hundreds of channels and DVDs are just a click of your mouse away, some of us have worried that theater might be a dying art form. Lovejoy doubts it, believing that theater offers a unique experience.

"Theater can do three different things. On a basic level it can entertain. We all need that. At its next level it can educate. Not all drama does this, but some stories definitely teach us things that we might not learn in another setting. Finally theater can enlighten us. This experience might be rare, but when it occurs it is very meaningful to the audience member. TV and movies rarely do that."

"What does art give to me? I give to my art, not the other way around," says Butler. "Besides, without it, I'd be the fry guy at McDonald's."