By R. J. Donovan
Special to the BIR

For a relatively young guy, Michael Duncan Smith has developed an unusually deep understanding of history.  He also has a passion for the performing arts.  Happily, the Westford native has found a unique way to satisfy both interests.
Most days you’ll find him at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown where he serves as marketing and public relations director.  However, when the weekend arrives, he can often be found portraying a Colonial Minuteman – an experience he describes as “living history.”
His interest in theater began early.  At UMass Dartmouth, he was vice president of his theater group.  After graduation, he joined the staff at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, later moving on to Boston Center for the Arts. 
Several months ago, Mike accepted the position at New Rep where he is currently working on marketing a fall season that kicks off with the musical  “Closer Than Ever,” followed by productions of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” Tennessee Williams’s  “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore,” the world premiere of Robert Brustein’s “King of the Schnorrers” and more.  
Early in his career he worked as an actor and director.  Now having a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter at home, he remains focused on arts administration.  Here’s a condensed look at our conversation.
Q. Your interest in the arts began very early. 
A. My high school (Westford Academy) had a really great theater arts program.  It’s still run by the same guy, Michael Towers. He was really instrumental in getting me to pursue theater through high school and into college.
Q. I hear the two of you crossed paths again several years later?
A. It’s a very interesting relationship with him . . . He showed up at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.  He was (at BU) to get his MFA in playwriting.  So he was a graduate student while I was marketing coordinator . . . I probably wouldn’t be in this profession if it wasn’t for this gentleman.  It was a really interesting cycle.  The next year, we produced his play, “Five Down, One Across,” so it came full circle.  He helped me discover theater and see how beneficial it was to be in theater.  And then I helped market and produce his show.
Q. Your time at Boston Playwrights’ was a learning experience in more ways than one.
A. After college I was looking for work in town. I applied pretty much everywhere. I had an interview at The Huntington . . . I applied for a job at New Rep – this is going back eight or nine years now.  Didn’t get that job . . . It wasn’t looking great . . . and then Boston Playwrights’ Theatre came up . . . and it worked out. I was there for seven seasons. BPT is part of Boston University, and they have a great master’s program . . . So I started taking classes and ended up with a master’s degree in arts administration. 
Q.  Boston Playwrights is known for innovative creativity.  Favorite moments?
A. One of them that really stands out – and it got not very favorable reviews – was “Miss Margaret LaRue in Milwaukee” by Wesley Savick.  I loved that show.  It came about right in 2008 when everything went sour and theater was a luxury good and nobody came to see it.  But we all just loved it. That was a real standout for me.
And I worked with Howard Zinn on “Daughter of Venus.”  We did that co-production with Suffolk University.  He was the most gentlemanly individual. Everything you hear about Howard Zinn is exactly true.  He was this gentle man who had such compassion. I remember designing the poster for the show and having him tell me how much he loved it. That was really great.
Q. So how did you get involved in Colonial battle reenactments.
A. My wife and I moved to Lexington about four years ago. I had been to the Battle Green reenactment years ago when my grandfather took me, probably when I was 13, and I loved it. He had a great love of history and really instilled that in me.  When I got my undergrad, I focused in English and history.  So when I moved to Lexington, we would go to the Battle Green reenactment at 5:30 a.m.  The view was terrible because there were thousands and thousands of people.  And I said, how do I get a better view?  And my wife actually said, you should join the Minutemen. 
Q. Do you portray an actual solider?
A. With the Lexington Minutemen, we portray somebody who was at that first battle of the American revolution. I play a character called Ebenezer Bowman who lived in Lexington. He was on the Battle Green at the age of 17 . . . He was at the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga in ’77.  Then he left the Army, went to Harvard, got his law degree and moved to Pennsylvania and became the first practicing lawyer in Luzerne County. This is all character research that we do ourselves.  Not dissimilar to how an actors would learn about a character they’re portraying. 
Q. Were you assigned Bowman or did you select him?
A. I selected him. There was a list of open characters, and in my part of Lexington we vote at the Bowman school . . . It’s called Bowman School because Bowman lived in East Lexington. (The Bowmans) were actually one of the first families in that part of town, which at the time was called Cambridge Farms.  
Q. Your love of history has also led to revelations about your personal ancestry.
A. It’s a natural progression for someone who loves history to want to know their own history . . . (My) Irish side goes through my paternal grandmother (born and raised in Medford) – she was Irish to Irish, McDonaugh and Sullivan. They’re from Co. Sligo.  The Sullivans go back to New Hampshire.  My great-great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Sullivan, was in the fourth NH Infantry during the Civil War.  He named his son Jeremiah Lincoln Sullivan, presumably after the President.
Q. And the other side of your heritage is French?
A. Yes, my Acadian ancestors.  They were some of the first French settlers, going back into the early 17th century, in Port Royal – what is now Nova Scotia . . . (With a laugh) Everyone’s descended from Charlemagne . . . (The links) are a little muddled, but they’re there.
R. J. Donovan is Editor and Publisher of onstageboston.com. 
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For information on New Repertory Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, call 617-923-8487 or visit newrep.org.