The Dead: A Reflection

I loved being part of the cast in The Dead. This season, I really felt that we have a solid group of actors who worked well together, was focused, and made the play a great experience. Overall, I loved working with each and every one of them and enjoyed being part of such an unusual play.

During our rehearsals, I loved watching the new theatre students learn about being on stage and helping them whenever I could. It was interesting to see how quickly we adapted when our staging was constantly changing. Because we had learned the play with specific blocking that incorporated protruding walls, it was fun learning how to adapt when the staged was altered into more of a theatre in the round setup. It was my first experience being in a show where the audience surrounded me, and I loved learning how to stand, walk, and dance in such a different setting. In addition, I enjoyed having to do “elderly” makeup. I always find it fun when people ask me to do the stage makeup, and I loved facing the challenge of making Grace and I look elderly.  

What I found most challenging in this play was having to act as an 80 year old woman. Realistically, I am too young to play such a role, but I found it to be an exciting challenge. I was constantly told in notes that I was acting too young, so I had to adjust my walking and talking. That being said, I had to make sure that I didn’t loose my volume. Normally, I feel that I project enough on stage, but I found that my acting impacted my volume. Because of this, I had to be conscious not only of my acting, but of my volume and blocking.

I’m happy that I had the opportunity to be in The Dead; it taught me how to work with such a diverse cast, in a new theatrical setting, and how to act outside of my comfort level.