Former Cerritos College student and theater major, Susana Batres, has always been ardent about the performing arts and willing to put extra effort into productions.

Georgia Well, chair of Theater Department, recalls a time when the department’s one-act summer productions were in jeopardy and Batres pulled through to save the day.

In the summer of 2008, the Theater Department put on a set of one-act plays, one of which Batres had the lead role in.

Ten days before opening night, the lead actor for one of the other plays had to be replaced.

“She jumped in at the last minute, ” Well says, “it was a lot of work, [but] she knew [the] lines and was wonderful.”

Batres, who has since left Cerritos College and transferred to CalState University of Long Beach, will be returning to perform in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” at the Burnight Theatre on Oct. 8, 9 and Oct. 14-17.

When asked why she wanted to come back and perform at the Burnight, Batres says, “It’s a powerful, compelling story that took place in history and I love the concepts within it.”

Miller’s “The Crucible” is a drama based on the Salem witch trials of 1692 and was written as an allegory to the McCarthyism of the 50’s.

The passion for theater glows brightly from Batres.

She has been involved in drama since she 5 years old and her first performance was in a production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Batres says, “When I got to college I really got into [drama] and taking classes drove me and my passion.”

She cites Well and Kevin Hoggard, theater professor, as two Cerritos instructors that really motivated her.

Her diligence and industrious attitude toward her classes and her craft was very distinguishable.

Hoggard says, “[Batres] probably worked harder than anybody else [in any of her classes].”

She will be portraying Abigail Williams in the production and she is not taking her role lightly, “I’ve done my research and I’m using techniques and exercises I’ve learned [throughout school] to get into character.”

Batres continues to perform outside of Cerritos.

She regularly performs in CSULB Showcases, productions directed, performed, and sometimes written by students.