"I remember when I saw my first Shakespeare play live at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was Macbeth and the lead actor was a black man named Peter Macon. It had never dawned on me that I had never seen a black actor play a Shakespearean lead. I realized how limitless Shakespeare was and I couldn't wait to explore for myself."
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Artist Interview
"One of my favorite things to watch has been my fellow actor Jak Watson's portrayal of Henry IV. I have especially enjoyed seeing the evolution of his take on Henry's death scene - it's always a pleasure to witness."
"Lady Anne is a challenge because she's a young woman and I am very much not. Playing her is a stretch outside of my comfort zone, which is always exciting, and even though she only has one scene where she speaks, the arc of that scene with Richard III is incredibly intense. She goes from mourning her husband and father-in-law to agreeing to marry the man who killed them. It took a lot of work and a lot of weird rehearsals where we flipped the power dynamics or tried odd styles, but the end result has been amazing."
SH: Which of your characters do you feel the most connected to? Why?
GM: It's Richard III, hands down. I think there's something admirable about a character who doesn't embrace the superficiality and insincerity of the social order around him, and who manages to succeed in spite of that. If Richard has any quality worth emulating, I think it's that one, and I love tapping into his guilt-free sense of total irreverence for custom and decorum.
Strange Harbor: What do you most enjoy about watching and performing Shakespeare?
Shannon Stowe: It is a visceral experience. Performing Shakespeare requires total commitment of body, voice, and mind. If you hold back even ONE little bit, you feel it. In a way it requires abandon and trust in the language. As a performer, it's a great and rewarding challenge to do that.
Strange Harbor: What discovery in rehearsal most surprised you?
Heather Lee Rogers: In an early reading I thought I was clever by giving Erpingham a funny old man voice, making him a cute old knight. Then I learned he was a TOTAL BADASS! His military career went back to Edward the Black Prince and in the battle of Agincourt HE was the commander of the long bow archers (i.e. the force that won the battle)!
Strange Harbor: What has been the hardest challenge in working on this play?
Mackenzie Knapp: Giving yourself over to trusting the ensemble to carry the play is a courageous act. When you pass the ball without looking you need to trust that someone is going to be on the other end of that pass to catch it. It is so difficult to cultivate that level of trust, but once you do it's fantastic.