After 12 years, Kimberly Mohne Hill knew it was time.

Hill is a fixture in the South Bay’s theater scene, as a busy director, sought-after dialect coach, and chair of Santa Clara University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. Yet in those years–from witnessing her daughters blossom from little girls to college students, then ensuring her terminally ill husband had, as she says, a “smooth and loving transition”–Hill had not set foot on stage as an actor. She last took on multiple roles in “A Christmas Carol” at the now defunct San Jose Repertory Theatre in 2012.

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“Now, my girls have their own lives and I have an empty nest, so then it’s like, let’s go,” said Hill of making her return to the boards. “And so it’s bringing me no end of joy.”

That joy is being poured into the immensely popular “Noises Off” at Palo Alto Players, the 1982 farcical play that goes into the wildness of a chaotic opening night and the insanity that takes place in front of and behind the audience. Hill is tasked with portraying actor Dotty, who then portrays the character Mrs. Clackett.

Hill is entering a specific phase of performing as one of the older members of the cast. For her, it’s another aspect of her career she’s ready to embrace.

“If I continue to have the blessing of life and the ability to pursue what I do, I’m going to be the oldest one in the room no matter where I go,” Hill said.

She also brings a gravitas to any rehearsal room as someone who has a college professorship pedigree, as well as an MFA from American Conservatory Theater. But Hill said she doesn’t feel the weight of these expectations.

“When I would walk into an audition, they would go ‘Oh, ACT,’ and there was this air of expectation of how good I was going to be,” Hill said. “And I feel the same now, with 30 years of professorship under my belt and people being like, ‘She’s a professor.’ But I’m just like, I’m a teacher and will be here making mistakes. I’m definitely nervous about that, but it’s the thrill that keeps your brain growing, keeps you young, keeps you humble. It’s what I ask of my students–to be brave and try things–so I have to practice what I preach.”

“Noises Off” director Linda Piccone ironically didn’t really know Hill despite their proximity inside South Bay theater circles, but knew of her and acknowledges she might have seen her work over the years. So to have Hill come in audition for a show she was directing was a stroke of good fortune.

“I don’t usually get this type of talent and professionalism coming across my table, and before she even finished her monologue I cast her,” Piccone said. “It’s been great working with her and seeing her process in finding her character. We have a lot of back and forth, which has been quite fun at times.”

Piccone said she greatly admires how Hill is clear on her role as an actor, never overstepping into directorial territory despite her experience.

“She never imposes anything to question my vision of the show,” Piccone said. “She leads by example for the cast by being on time, being prepared and helping them to learn the best warmups preshow. I’m only hoping that the cast is paying attention.”

Hill knows her daughters, both enrolled at Santa Clara University, will be paying attention. While Kristin, 21, is a theater arts major with an emphasis in dance, Kenzie, 19, is studying environmental science, but still loves working in the scene shop building sets.

“What I do in relation and out of concern for them is try and take projects they’ll be proud of, with the same sort of lens I put on when they were little and I would need to leave to do things,” Hill said. “I just want them to be proud of me, and want it to be something where they can say, ‘Yeah, that’s my mom’ and not be embarrassed about it.”

“Noises Off” runs Jan. 17-Feb. 2 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $20-$60 at paplayers.org.

David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2022-23). @davidjchavez.bsky.social