"I love doing many different things. That is a theme that dominates my life," David Neale said.

In childhood he began doing many different things by playacting. He and his brothers and friends assumed different characters doing different things, and put on plays in their backyard. Always encouraged by his parents, he played Chicken Little in kindergarten, and was on the dramatic speech team of his elementary school. By the time he was in high school in St. Louis, he said, "I developed an appreciation for diversity. There was never any doubt in my mind that as a university major I would pursue theater."

In 1987, David entered Northeast Missouri State University. "It was four hours from my hometown, and surrounded by four hours of corn," he said. "That turned out to be an advantage. There was nothing to do outside school, so we were forced to have a great time within. I met lots of people I might not have, had there been a scene off campus. Among them were some of my first Japanese friends. As a theater major, I was heavily involved both onstage and backstage with five annual school productions. I also worked as a DJ at the local FM radio station, sang in a band, sat on the board council for the Neumann Center, a Catholic youth group for college students, and volunteered as tutor for elementary school kids."

The university required of its liberal arts students two years of foreign language study. This dismayed David until he saw a poster offering summer study abroad. The program, to follow intensive study in Missouri, provided completion of foreign language requirements. "I signed up. The country was Japan. That poster changed my life," David said.

"We studied morning to night, seven days a week, one year's worth in eight weeks," he said. Then the selected students came to Hosei University in Tokyo. "In addition to studying and seeing all the sights, I realized something: I liked it. I liked speaking with Japanese people in their own language. I wanted to speak better. I wanted to prove that I, as an American, could exist independently in Japanese society without needing special assistance."

After Missouri graduation, David made plans to return to Japan to teach England. "Whilst I was waiting, I worked as an announcer and MC for the U.S. team's high diving show in an amusement park." In 1982 he returned to Japan, to Aomori. "As well as teaching English, I volunteered as director of English musicals at a local junior college. I transferred to Sendai, where I did a weekly live radio talk show in Japanese. I began my own band, and took up marathon running, beginning with a short 3-km run, and finishing with an ultra-marathon of 100 km." David says he loves Tohoku, which he regards as his Japanese country heartland.

He was still dissatisfied with the level of his Japanese. "I packed my bags and headed for Tokyo, where I studied Japanese at Keio University," he said. "I began a TV career, which covered many dramas, videos, commercials and movies. I also did voice acting. My biggest show was perhaps one with Beat Takeshi and Konishiki, 'Koko ga Hen Da yo Nihonjin' ('Strange Japanese Habits'). I was a regular member of that show for three years, and loved meeting people from all around the world and speaking in Japanese. I also became involved with Tokyo International Players, and for the first time in a long while began acting on stage again." In one of his commercial shows he met "the beautiful woman who would become my wife. She was the makeup artist."

David is now in his fourth year of teaching drama in the middle school at the American School in Japan. "I teach drama, video production and stagecraft. I direct plays and build sets. I make videos and lead our annual 'battle of the bands.' I have a deep respect for the students. They are great kids -- smart, creative, energetic and polite. I become more like the person I want to be when I am working with them. We have a motto at the ASIJ theater that sums up the way I want to live: "To entertain, inspire and have the time of our lives."

He says that one of his favorite acting roles was that of Salieri in the TIP production of "Amadeus." He made his TIP directing debut with "Godspell," and follows on now with his direction of "The Dining Room," a play he describes as "very fluid, very dynamic, poignant, very touching."