Words, Words, Words

This week, Macbeth cast member Kate Tubbs (Lennox, Messenger) answers our acting questions.

1. How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?
Many people I know view the complete works of Shakespeare as the bible, and for an actor it is. Text is key and king when playing Shakespearean characters. Speaking, reading and acting Shakespeare can be difficult, because the language adds another layer that an actor must dig through when preparing a role. You simply cannot act Shakespeare if you do not understand the words. Once you understand his Early Modern English you can start to fall back on other acting methods or techniques to develop your character. After that he’s just like any other playwright, and if you find and pick up his clues into your character, you’re well on the way!

2. What do you find to be the most helpful part of PCSC’s standard rehearsal process?
This production of Macbeth is my first with PCSC, and our rehearsal process has been much different than PCSC standard. This show is ensemble directed, meaning there is no director. Each cast member is also asked to help direct the show; any decisions or problems must be dealt with by the cast as a whole. I love collaborating with others on almost everything I do; and working so closely with other castmates allows an actor to really fine tune her work. When you receive feedback from a few different people it can seem daunting, but overall it makes for a much more flushed out performance. I’ve really enjoyed our rehearsals so far and it’s been very welcoming to join a cast that wants your feedback and your thoughts on all creative decisions.

3. What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?
I like to meddle in lots of different art forms, including painting, photography, illustration and book making. I love film, literature, music (listening and singing)…anything that is a creative outlet. I also do yoga and love the great outdoors. Camping, hiking, swimming….I’m just kind of a hippie…

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?
In February I started a new job in Brand Communication at Steelcase. I assist the PR team and 360 team (which publishes the quarterly magazine 360) with a little bit of everything, but mostly administrative & support tasks. My dream day job wouldn’t really be a job. I’d love to be able to honestly introduce myself as an artist, someone who survives by creating. My office would be my studio, or wherever I am inspired. My boss would be me and my only deadlines would be the bottom of the page.

5. What theatre plans do you have in the next couple months?
Don’t know yet! Anybody know of upcoming auditions?!

Pigeon Creek newcomer Dynasty (Third Witch, Donalbain, Menteith, Second Murderer) talks about her experience rehearsing Macbeth.

1. How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?
When first starting to prepare for a Shakespearean character I make sure I have a full and clear understanding of the play itself. By understanding the play’s intent I am then able to understand the intent of both my character and other characters as well. I find that this helps to create a smooth and clear message to both the other actors in the scene and audience members, painting a better picture of what’s going on scene by scene. After getting the broader picture I try to fine tune it buy assessing each one of my character’s lines as well as going over scansion and pronunciation. Another thing I like to do with pieces by Shakespeare is to go over each word breaking down consonant and vowel make sure that they are highlighted throughout my speech so that audience members can clearly hear each word that is spoken.

What I find to be the most influential in character development, whether it be a Shakespearean character or any other, is to really do my best to embody the character I am playing; meaning behave, move, and have the energy level and needs that particular character would have.

2. What do you find to be the most helpful part of PCSC’s standard rehearsal process?
This is actually my first time working with Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company and I find that most helpful throughout the rehearsal process is the feedback that you get from all of the other actors. we are all directors as well as actors within the production. I find it helpful that the same person I’m out there acting with is also collaborating on the direction of the scene. I feel like this method helps to bring all the actors on to the same page at a quicker pace.
 We also collaborate on talking about the scenes together and discussing the intent as a whole and that really helps to know that everyone is understanding the material as a whole 

3. What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?
This question has always been a struggle for me to answer. I feel like there’s not enough time in a lifetime to do all of the things I like to do. With that being said, I probably like to do to many things so I guess I will just list a couple of my favorite things. I love to travel places I’ve never been, hike, camp, fish, dance, play the guitar, sing, shop, have game nights, and be lazy.

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?
Well I don’t have a day job per se I have a night job. I work at an adult foster home for developmentally and mentally disabled women. it is quite challenging and often fun but ultimately I want to be a psychiatrist working with the mentally ill.

5. What theatre plans do you have in the next couple months?
Acting wise I’m always an open book and ready for anything that comes up. Sometimes I have to work on pacing myself and not doing too many things at one time. As of now I have a couple film projects in my future. And nothing planned so far within the theatre but I am excited for what may come. I have been away from the acting world for a while and I am more than ready to dive right in!

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Repertory Company Member, Kat Hermes

*****

1. How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

I start with the basics; looking at the way the character uses text, at what the character says about themself and what the other characters say about them.

Then I start to physicalize what I now know about the character. What works best for me is playing with images, sometimes drawn from the real world and sometimes from pop culture. I usually end up with two or three distinct images and build the physical character using parts of each. For example, my most recent role with Pigeon Creek, Don Armado in Love’s Labour’s Lost, was part Antonio Banderas, part Captain Jack Sparrow and part a guy I went to graduate school with. For Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the character I’m currently preparing, I’m looking at a lot of images of magical women in fantasy, such as Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings and Maleficent from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

2. What do you find to be the most helpful part of PCSC’s standard rehearsal process?

Typically the first time we run through the entire show we do what’s called a “Ren Run” (short for Renaissance Run), where we put the show on its feet as though we were performing for an audience, regardless of how polished the staging is for each individual scene. This gives us a chance to get an early sense of the feel of the show as a whole, without stopping and starting, and allows us to test how well each of us really knows the story the we’re telling. I always make interesting discoveries during the “Ren Run”. While working Romeo and Juliet this spring, the “Ren Run” was the first time it really hit home how little time Romeo and I spent onstage together. Sean Kelley (who played Romeo) and I rarely even saw each other backstage, and I found that as the run went on I started to miss “checking in” with him. We only had two little moments together between scenes (after the balcony scene and before we enter together after our wedding night), so pretty much everything that we needed to communicate to each other, both as actors and characters, had to happen onstage. That sense of intimacy and urgency in the face of distance was part of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship that I had thought about how to convey, but when we put the show together I realized that Shakespeare had already done that work for me, that I didn’t have to “act” it, just let it happen.

3. What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?

I read a lot. I watch a lot of Netflix. I sleep.

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

I work full time as an assistant teacher at a daycare and accredited preschool, with ages ranging from infant to school-aged. Though I love teaching and working with kids and will probably always do so in some capacity, I’d like acting and costume design to be my day jobs, eventually.

5. What theatre plans do you have in the next couple months?

In addition to my work with Pigeon Creek, I’m also a board member of Dog Story Theater in downtown Grand Rapids, so you’ll be able to find me there most weekends working the box office. I’m also thinking of venturing into non-Shakespearean theater with a close and talented friend of mine, but those plans are still too vague for a formal announcement.

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Repertory Company Member, Scott Wright
*****

1. How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

The first step is most often just carefully reading the play – more than once – sometimes well before the first rehearsal…! The text usually has everything you need to know about a character, and Shakespeare almost always gives you plenty of details. What a character says reveals much about him but there is much more detail available – usually in the things other characters say – or don’t say – about your character, maybe in the stage directions, or sometimes in what the character says about himself. So while you’re going through the text in those first read-thrus and early rehearsals you have to pay attention to those character details, who says them, how and why they say it.

Some roles are very well known, famous characters and much has been said and written about them. Scholarly analysis is sometimes less useful than the work of other actors and directors, but it’s always informative.

Some roles are historical characters whose lives and activities are a matter of record. A little digging can glean a great many details about who someone truly was – though Shakespeare was more often interested in drama than history…

Whether a character speaks in verse or prose is a very important clue to a character’s social status and/or emotional state. Sometimes dialects or accents are written into the script giving excellent and sometimes very funny clues to a character’s class or attitudes. But then there are characters about whom very little is said or offered by the playwright. What those characters say and the situations they are placed in is about all you get and you get to fill in lots of details yourself.

We ask ourselves questions about the character – “What is the character doing (feeling, etc.)?” and “What does the character want?” and use the other tools available to us as actors. The answers to those questions give us actions to play that will bring our characters to life.

The other players, as they work through building their characters, give you feedback and active/motive stuff that helps you discover more about your character and how much or they “want.”

Eventually though, you have to get on your feet and try some things out – try it on and see how it feels. Pigeon Creek favorite Heather Hartnett has described the process as a little like making a coat – cutting it out, sewing it, adjusting when it doesn’t fit the first time, trying it again, & etc. I think that’s a great metaphor, but even more than just trying on different hats or masks, I find that part of what we try out are the strong feelings and larger-than-life actions that are often part of our characters’ realities. Those actions & emotions aren’t always familiar or comfortable for me the actor. Once I put the script down and start putting together a sequence of the character’s thoughts and actions and feelings within the action of the play, I find I discover even more about the character and what he has to say.

2. What do you find to be the most helpful part of PCSC’s standard rehearsal process?

I really enjoy the very early rehearsals where we go through the script, consult different editions, talk about the relationships between the characters and what’s actually happening in a given scene. Going through and working out the scansion in the verse lines and those sort of Shakespeare – geek-y things.

3. What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?

I am an avid sailor and sailboat-racing enthusiast. I race as often as I can in my Rebel – a somewhat traditional 16-foot one-design sloop which is also a great day-sailing boat. My son Soren says he prefers sailing on our Hobie 16 catamaran – I think because it’s just so much faster and more exciting – especially when it’s breezy. We do more day-sailing on the Hobie, mostly because there’s just less opportunity to race.

I am also a long-time rugby fanatic. I’m currently a referee and referee-coach/evaluator, but I’ve been involved in rugby either as player, coach, or referee for about 20 years now. I don’t play very often anymore – and when I do my body protests mightily the next day, but as we say, “It’s the pain that let’s you know that you’re alive.”

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

I work for Distinctive Machine Corp. in Rockford, where I am the CAD/CAM/IS Manager. I’m a tool-maker by trade and qualified as a journeyman building plastic-injection molds. DMC builds metal-stamping dies, and I do CAD work and support the company’s computer systems that do computer-aided design and machining. I have often thought over the years that I would like to design and/or build boats. Especially wooden sailboats. They’re like pieces of art – beautiful and functional, and the building material lends them a sort of mysterious, magical quality – though I’d probably enjoy designing and building boats in modern materials too.

I think I’d like to be a professional actor too… not just making a little bit here and there at it and being referred to as, and being expected to behave and perform like one – but actually making a living at it. I’m not entirely sure I have the courage to be a struggling, starving artist at this stage of my life and I’ve got plenty of excuses for why I can’t – “There’s not enough opportunity in this area…”, I have a lot of other obligations, & etc. – and plenty of self-doubt… But then, “For the believer no proof is necessary – For the unbeliever, no proof is sufficient…”

5. What theatre plans do you have in the next couple months?

When Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival’s Richard III is finished I’ll get a little break and then start rehearsals for Pigeon Creek’s All’s Well That Ends Well that will hit Grand Rapids sometime in January. I hope to win a role in one of PCSC’s spring or summer tours, and of course there’ll be a few other local opportunities available too…

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Repertory Company Member, Elle M. Lucksted

*****

1. How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

My character preparation involves reading and re-reading lines, paying attention to who my scene partners are and establishing connections with their characters. Developing a back-story–especially for less significant characters–helps create motivations for all of their actions. By that, I mean putting motivation behind every move (e.g.: why is my character walking away/toward this person at this moment?) Physical motivation, emotional motivation, whether the words my character speaks are sincere, sarcastic, flat, designed to pull a particular emotion out of my partner, etc. Specific to Shakespeare, of course, is prose/verse writing. If my character switches between the two throughout the play, you must pay strict attention to which style they speak with which characters and why.

2. What do you find to be the most helpful part of PCSC’s standard rehearsal process?

I have a feeling that this answer will be unanimous, but the most valuable part of Pigeon Creek’s rehearsals is the ensemble (Specifically the ensemble directing of shows, but I mean “ensemble” as in the entire process is team-based.) That means that as an actor, you get productive feedback from a lot of directions, but also that everyone contributes equally to create the final product and has the opportunity to have their voice heard in the process. Aside from that, PC spends a good deal of time working through the text before jumping into action. Beginning rehearsals often consist of read-throughs and partner line-work so that we can build and understand the words first and foremost, which is so important with Shakespeare.

3. What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?

I like to travel, read, write, amateurly analyze politics (I run a political and a feminist blog), and stumble upon internet things. I’ll choose going out with friends or staying in with a movie depending on my mood.)

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

I am a full-time student by day, supplemented by unpaid internships. I guess I would say my “job” is my current internship at my university’s Women’s Center. I am the undergraduate VAWA Grant intern (Violence Against Women Act) –a federal grant that funds projects and events for Domestic Violence Awareness month. If I were paid for this position, I could do it for the rest of my life. My ultimate dream-job is working in Human Rights or Social Work with domestic violence victims and survivors, which I will accomplish once I have my master’s degree down the road!

5. What theatre plans do you have in the next couple months?

Unfortunately, my acting plans have taken a backseat to my academics as of late (I’m a senior psychology major doing psychology and graduate school prep-type things.) But my internship with the Women’s Center will give exposure to some great theatrical involvement this fall. ReAct is an on-campus theatre troupe that promotes anti-violence through scene performances, so we’ll be working closely with them at times. We are also hosting a production of Remote Control, an interactive play designed to raise questions and encourage men (and women) to step into abuse-prevention roles. Besides that, I will be happily/nostalgically attending upcoming Pigeon Creek and Grand Valley performances to cheer on my friends and cast-mates.

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Chaz Russel Bratton (Eros, Philo, Proculeius, Taurus, Messenger) and Owen McIntee (Octavius Caesar/Demetrius/Guard) are on the docket for Antony and Cleopatra.

*****

1. How do you prepare a Shakespearean character?

Chaz: Research the time period, people, etc. If the character is based on a real person, research that person. Then, work the arc of the character through the show. Find out what your character is doing while off stage.

Owen: Research, research, research. Take clues from the text and run with them. Seek out input from my directors and fellow actors- they usually know a lot more than I do.

2. What thus far in rehearsal has been helpful?

Chaz: Having a director like Katherine is extremely helpful. So is getting to work with actors of such a high caliber.

Owen: The various exercises and text work Katherine supplied for us during the first few weeks of rehearsal were invaluable. Also, the encouragement to keep playing and trying new things has helped my character grow through the entire process.

3. What do you do for fun outside of theatre?

Chaz: Watch movies. I’m a huge cinephile.

Owen: I’m into movies, reading, and video games. Other than that I just enjoy spending time with my family, my girlfriend and my buddies!

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

Chaz: During the show I sold knives and delivered pizzas. I’d love to be able to act as my day job.

Owen:Right now I work on campus at Aquinas as an office assistant. Ideally, the ultimate goal is to be able to support myself financially as an actor. Whatever I end up doing will be fine, so long as I continue to enjoy life.

5. What do you plan to do after this show?

Chaz: Keep acting! I’ll probably audition for Pigeon Creek again. Fingers crossed.

Owen: Finish school and graduate in the winter, move to Chicago and learn how to be an adult.

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Mary Bridget McCarthy (Iras/Maecenas) is on the docket for Antony and Cleopatra.

*****

1. How do you prepare a Shakespearean character?

After my ceremonial happy dance that I got a role, I usually dig right into the text. The awesome thing about Shakespeare is that he gives you so many clues with: the words you speak, the way you speak, the way you choose to speak to others, etc. I read the play a few times and then start to break down my character. I look into what the character says about him or herself, the dynamics that he or she plays with the other characters and so on. I then go about making each character as distinct as I can. This usually means a change in voice, posture, gait, assumed power, and anything else I can think of.

2. What thus far in rehearsal has been helpful?

I am going to start this off with some honesty: I am a newbie. Shakespeare is fairly uncharted territory to me. The idea of thrust staging, audience contact, doing live music, doubling, playing MALE characters, and having more than a line or two of Shakespeare had me more than a little anxious. And I was right! These things do take skill and require some technique. What I did not bank on, however, was the amazing group of people that would be around me. I would have been lost had it not been for our wonderful cast and the incredible director at our head. Working with this cast has been a huge blessing. They are wonderful acting partners and simply great people to create with. Whenever I have questions or have sought advice, they have been amazingly helpful. Our director, Katherine Mayberry, is incredible as well. She has been an invaluable resource. She has meet with several of the newer actors to help with text, voice and movement work, and some acting workshops. I feel that I have grown as an actor, even beyond Shakespeare, due to the people I am working with.

3. What do you do for fun outside of theatre?

I enjoy midnight swims in Lake Michigan, reading good books, having good conversations, being with good friends, drinking good tea, watching good movies, and staying up far past reasonable hours to have good times.

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

I am currently a student at Hope College and work at Staples. I don’t know how theatre will be my day job in the future, but I would love it to be. Whether that be in acting, teaching, stage management, non-profit theatre, I will be happy and grateful.

5. What do you plan to do after this show?

Time to go back to school! After doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream up at the Rose at Blue Lake with PCSC (Come see it, by the way. You will see lots of faces you know from Antony and Cleopatra!), I will be returning to Hope to start my sophomore year. I have my fingers crossed and hope to be cast in the fall semester productions. Beyond that, I would treasure an opportunity to work with this company again some time in the near future. It has been a pleasure and an honor to work with everyone.

I hope you come see Antony and Cleopatra, and find as much joy in watching it as we have in bringing it to you!

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Matthew David Fowler (Lepidus/Gallus) and Mychael J. Overton (Alexas/Euphronius/Agrippa) are on the docket for Antony and Cleopatra.

*****

1. How do you prepare a Shakespearean character?

Matt: Step One is to use my formula for any character I take on; Shakespearean or Non-Shakespearean. What does my character say about himself/herself? What do other people say about me? What is my character afraid of? What does my character desire? Then with a Shakespeare role I have the added bonus of textural clues to help me get into my character. Does my character speak in prose or verse? Does my character use thou or you?

Mychael: Since I have never performed a Shakespeare play before, the best thing for me was to research the history of the play. With Antony and Cleopatra, I not only researched the history of the play, but I also researched the historical figures and events Shakespeare used to write this play. After I figure out who everyone is in the play, my next step is identifying their personalities and finding natural ways to bring their unique traits to the stage in an accurate and entertaining way.

2. What thus far in rehearsal has been helpful?

Matt: The way Katherine directs is unparalleled to any director I have had thus far. The techniques we use really inspire me. For example, for scenes with complex blocking we figure out when the stage picture changes and freeze frame the scene. When we are talking about a character in the scene who is not present, Katherine puts him or her in the middle so that we can reference them. When a character needs to be a listener, he or she repeats words from the speaker that hit home.

Mychael: Our director, Katherine Mayberry, has been meeting with a some of the newer cast members to help us with the Shakespearean text. Her knowledge and techniques have been wonderful for bringing my characters to life.

3. What do you do for fun outside of theatre?

Matt: I take pride in finding the most unique hobbies and making them a part of my life. I learn different foreign accents on CDs, I make animations, I create papercrafts (three-dimensional origami), I practice my ukulele, or I collect artifacts that express my love of purple.

Mychael: I enjoy the outdoors for a little fresh air and exercise during the day. At night, you can usually find me curled up watching a movie.

4. What is your day job? What do you want to be your day job?

Matt: Currently I am a full time student at Grand Valley State University. I dream of becoming a motivational speaker so I can inspire young people to chase their dreams. There are a lot of horrible feelings in this world, but nothing can compare to knowing you had the opportunity to do something you truly enjoy and you didn’t take it. I believe that everyone deserves to know this fact early on because most people discover this on their deathbeds when it is too late.

Mychael: I am a currently a full-time student at Hope College. I would rather be writing screenplays, directing a movie, or figuring out the logistics for my own film productions someday.

5. What do you plan to do after this show?

Matt: In the Fall I will be the Stage Manager of Grand Valley’s Bard to Go, I will start my second term as president of the student theatre organization: STAGE, and I will appear as Norman Bates in Stark Turn Players’ Psycho the Musical.

Mychael: I plan to return to Hope College and continue working on my B.A. in Communication and Theater.

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Sarah Stark (Rosaline) and Janna Rosenkranz (Boyet) are on the docket for Love’s Labour’s Lost.

*****
How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

Sarah: The beauty of Shakespeare is that the character is fully fleshed out already for you; it just simply is veiled at first sight by the text. What I feel I need to do is dig; to constantly engage the text until it reveals to me the full spectrum, from the overt circumstances to subtle nuances concerning character and emotion. The process is similar to the experience of trying to master a foreign language.

I begin by reading the play multiple times. Next I create a foundation by defining the given circumstances. At this point I also begin a backstory based on those facts and continue to add to it until performance time. I find it is one of the most effective tools for stimulating imagination and imbuing a sense of connection to the role. Then I examine the framework of the text, or how thoughts and arguments are carved out by punctuation, scansion, grammatical structure, etc. I enjoy using lexicons to explore all possible meanings inherent in operative words. As I progress I layer on technique, one of my favorites being Laban Effort Actions. All of this work is individual, and it is in the rehearsal process that I am able to amend or experiment based on the influence and work of my colleagues.

In the end it is my hope that I understand the character as fully as Shakespeare created them and that I may articulate their story in a specific and enjoyable manner.

Janna: Shakespeare’s characters are, for the most part, archetypes. The very first thing I do is decide which archetype I’m dealing with. Then I work on figuring out what that archetype says to me, as a 21st century individual. During my MFA training at Sarah Lawrence College we worked on being part of the collaboration of creating character. Actors work with characters, with the words (hence the playwright), the other actors, director, designers, and audience to create the event of the performance. As I’m doing all of this I research the character, look to previous performances, scholarly work on the play, and of course, the words, which are the most important resource actors have – directly from Shakespeare himself.

What, thus far, in rehearsal has been helpful?

Sarah: The insights and clever work of my colleagues. I strongly agree that two heads are better than one, and many heads even better. Such plentitude can be discovered in the honest feedback of an outside eye or by merely listening and reacting to a partner within a scene.

Janna: I always find feedback from other actors extremely helpful, especially when we are in an ensemble directed productions.

What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?

Sarah: Spend time with family & friends, travel, ballroom dancing, running, reading & writing plays and poetry, acrylic painting and charcoal sketching.

Janna: Watch bad (and sometimes) good TV – I am a pop culture aficionado, expert and addict.

What is your day job? What do you want to BE your day job?

Sarah: Currently I have two. I am a waitress and a door lady. If I could support myself as a professional actress, with time on the side to write and workshop my plays or poetry, that would be ideal.

Janna: I am currently attending GVSU’s Graduate Teacher Certification program, and begin student teaching in the fall. I have been teaching English, Writing and Speaking at Baker College, Muskegon for the last two years.

What do you plan to do after this show?

Sarah: Prepare to audition for M.F.A. graduate school programs this winter and begin work this Fall on my next show, Psycho, the Musical by Joel L. Schindlbeck in which I will be acting and choreographing.

Janna: We’re already in rehearsal for Antony and Cleopatra in which I am playing Octavia, et al (lots of doubling!). I am taking classes and looking forward to my student teaching experience.

This summer, PCSC has started a new means of gathering the inside scoop of our actors in their processes. In addition to the normal blog entries you read on here, there will also be a series of questions posed to our actors. Enjoy.

This week: Sarah Tryon (Katherine / Dull) and Chelsea Kaye (Mote / Mercade) are on the docket for Love’s Labour’s Lost.

*****

How do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

Sarah: I don’t really have a “typically” at this point with Shakespeare. Up until this point, I’ve only played one other Shakespearean character with more than 3 lines. What I’ve been doing is really looking to the text for clues about my character to inform me on how they speak, their relationship with the other characters, etc.

Chelsea: Reading, research and more research! I read the play over several times and do a lot of textual break-downs.

What, thus far, in rehearsal has been helpful?

Sarah: I’ve really liked the feedback I’ve gotten from the other cast mates. This is an ensemble directed production, so we all have a voice about what we think works about each other’s performances. I’ve really appreciated having a cast of very talented and experience actors to throw ideas at me. This is especially true for our workshop days (thus far we’ve had two with Katherine Mayberry, Executive Director), which have helped me become more educated about Shakespeare’s style. This is also my first time doing a show with thrust staging, so getting everyone’s assistance has been very helpful.

Chelsea: The workshops (which have consisted of thrust stage blocking, textual work, character games and all of the subtext work.) Some of my theatrical background lies in improv, so the ability to break down the complicated and witty lines that Mote has and to be able to say on the spot what he’s really thinking to Don Armado has been super helpful.

What do you like to do for fun outside of theatre?

Sarah: I like to do a lot of “boring” things like reading and running. My favorite literary genre is historical fiction. I’m also a huge horse fanatic and wish I could ride more often. I also have my tv shows. I’m a big fan of Game of Thrones on HBO and Mad Men.

Chelsea: Fun outside of theater? Blasphemy, say I! No, really, I do fill my time outside of rehearsals with many joyful activities. I just forget what those activities are right now.

What is your day job? What do you want to BE your day job?

Sarah: I’m working at the Crooked Goose in Standale as a waitress, but I’m also a full-time student at Grand Valley State University. Ideally, I’d love to be a working actor.

Chelsea: My day job is working as a program secretary for a local non-profit agency. What do I want to be my day job? Oh boy… I can’t think of anything real specific, though being a masked crime-fighter/vigilante sounds pretty cool. Maybe the official banana peeler for the Chiquita Banana lady? Host of Whose Line Is It Anyway in Italy? Professional Cyclist and Guacamole Maker? These all sound good to me.

What do you plan to do after this show?

Sarah: After this show, I’ll be working a lot and taking summer classes before heading into my senior year at Grand Valley. I’ll also be part of the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival’s touring production, Bard to Go.

Chelsea: Give thanks to God for this wonderful experience and pray that He provides another! I’ll probably continue my adventures in cooking, camping, reading, script writing, sleeping, volunteering at church, and playing with my house-bunny, Bam Bam. Oh, I remembered my outside activities!