Getting to Know the Interpreters of Colonial Williamsburg
My name is Christopher Glick and I am an orientation and sites interpreter here at Colonial Williamsburg. I help guests to understand both in place and context where they are at and serve as a bridge between the colonial era and today. As a site interpreter, I provide guests with an experience in our toured spaces, such as the Capitol. That's just my day job. When the trades and such shut down for the day, I take on the next part of my job as an actor in our evening programming. I play roles in all three of our trial programs. The trial programs are interactive theatrical productions of trials. In to Hang a Pirate, I portray Dr. Cocke, the Secretary of the Colony where the trial focuses on the real events involving Blackbeard's crew, and their trial here in Williamsburg. In Cry Witch, I play Mister Hill, a man who has some anger issues and doesn't like his neighbor set against the backdrop of one of Virginia's real trials about witchcraft. In Trial of a Patriot, a thought experiment set as a fictional trial asking the question what would it look like if the War for Independence fails, I play Peter Dabney, a fictional Virginian who remains loyal to the Crown. I take such joy from each aspect of my various positions here at CW, and I hope you'll join us for these evening programs when the current epidemic calms.

What is your favorite part of working at Colonial Williamsburg?
My favorite part of working for Colonial Williamsburg is my colleagues. There is not a day that goes by that some great new memory is not made as part of this family and knowing how close and how supportive we are of one another… I really have not come across that anywhere else. I come from a large extended family in Ohio and we are incredibly close. Having that in a work environment here in Williamsburg… I really do have a family in my colleagues.
What is something that surprises you about working at Colonial Williamsburg?
Something that surprises me about working for Colonial Williamsburg is how truly curious people are. We all have these ideas and preconceived notions from our life experiences, but colleagues and guests alike all seem to have this deep-rooted curiosity about the past and how history informs us, how interconnected we all are. Simply put, people. People surprise me, often in all of the best ways.
Do you have a favorite topic to research outside of work?
Outside of work, I have a master’s degree in international relations and had started a doctorate. I try to stay current in that field. I like reading books on Presidents. I just finished an introductory book on quantum physics. I have a reading list that is 83 books long right now covering all manner of topics from roller coasters to amusement park design, to the history of modern Japan to Ohio’s political history. My big problem is that I have so many interests that I do not have a specific focus and instead tend to just research and read whatever catches my fancy in a given moment… and that reading list just keeps adding more and more to it.
Tell us one interesting fact. (It can be an historical fact or a personal fact, your choice.)
My wife and I took our honeymoon here at Colonial Williamsburg in 2017 and I have a Master’s degree in International Relations.