In My Mind's Eye with Brad Sytsma

Introducing Brad Sytsma! Troilus and Cressida is Brad’s first production with PCSC, so he’s answering round one of our Acting Questions.

1) How Do you typically go about preparing a Shakespearean character?

This is my first Shakespeare show, so I can’t say that I have a typical way to prepare a Shakespeare character. I think I pretty much followed my usual routine where I started by looking at the dialogue and figuring out what my character was thinking, and what other people think about my character. Diomedes doesn’t really say a lot, so I also dove into some of the other materials written about the Trojan war to figure out who he is, and what he wants. All in all, researching this character was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and very helpful in my performance.

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

I think the most helpful part of the PCSc rehearsal process was the discussion. Shakespeare can be difficult to understand. The heightened language can be challenging to wade through and understand exactly what a character’s thoughts and motivations are. Being able to discuss different thoughts and opinions on the approach to delivery and action was extremely helpful in figuring out how to perform in my first Shakespeare play.

3) What do you for fun outside of theatre?

More theatre.

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

I am currently a Give a Wow Specialist for Terryberry, an employee recognition company. I design websites in conjunction for employee recognition programs for businesses worldwide. I would love to make theatre my day job, whether that be writing, acting, or even directing, I would love to be able to spend all of my time in a theatre.

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

I will probably audition for some of the other shows happening in the area. I’m also writing a series of 10 minute plays, two of which won contests and were produced this summer, that I would like to try and produce sometime this fall.