Big Time Actress: An interview
So, I am a big time actress now. I have been rehearsing a show for a couple of months. I have 4 co-stars and the play we are performing is "Parallel Lives." It is a show with vignettes from women's lives. I play a migrant farm worker with 8 children, a man who wears a baseball cap, a shy lady without a tampon, a teenage girl who just watched West-Side Story, an angel, a deer, a fish, a 60 year old woman who went back to school, a lesbian vegan poet/performer, a Southern damsel with strange ideas about love, and a woman getting ready in the morning. It is a busy show. My favorite dialogue is when I am Gina, talking to my best friend Annette about love, and her boyfriend. My favorite scene is when I am a lesbian vegan poet/performer because I am shockingly eccentric. I have a really hard time not laughing and staying serious in that play.
Since I am a big time actress in a small town community theater, I recently did an interview with myself, asking all the hard questions.
The Reporter: You have been on stage now for two nights now, what made you want to be in a play in the first place?
The Actress: Well, I have always been a bit dramatic. I figured it was time to have an audience that is actually interested in my drama instead of putting it all on the street in front of people who have no interest in that sort of thing.
The Reporter: Wow, that takes a lot of courage to get in front of people and be dramatic. How do you keep your nerves under control?
The Actress: My adrenaline just takes over. When I am in front of a crowd of 20 people, I just feed off of their energy and I want to make them laugh. It is easy to perform when I know a laugh is coming.
The Reporter: It sounds like you really enjoy making people laugh. Have you ever thought of becoming a comedian?
The Actress: I did do a comedy show last year in my basement for my husband's birthday last year. It was a lot harder to write the jokes than I ever imagined. It took hours to come up with 15 minutes of material. I don't know if I have the time to invest in that type of a hobby as a middle school teacher, aspiring novelist, and mother of four children.
The Reporter: You are busy! How do you balance it all?
The Actress: I leave all the dishes in the sink, and my laundry constantly needs washed and folded. Also, I don't have much down time. Between my facebooking hobby, and everything, there isn't much time left. I have a huge need for self-expression, so I have to get it out somehow, or I become a party pooper.
The Reporter: Tell me what your rehearsals are like.
The Actress: They were Tuesday-Thursday for two months or so. We met at the community college and freaked all the students out with our intense monologuing, fake boobs, and improvisational bursts of song. The cast all enjoys singing. One of my favorite rehearsals was when we figured out a four part harmony to "Bonjour, bonjour, it's nice to meet you" from Beauty and The Beast. (One of my co-stars has never seen that movie! And she calls herself an American. It is crazy). They were about two hours long, and for the first month we read lines. Then we went off-book and incorporated props and actions. Rehearsals were really fun. Unless I forgot a line. Then my director would tell me I need to memorize my lines and that wasn't fun. I do not like forgetting my lines nor getting yelled at.
The Reporter: Some of the content in your play is a little racey, how do you reconcile that with your religious beliefs and standards?
The Actress: In college I spent a semester studying theater in London. I saw a naked man, an on stage rape, heard a lot of crude language, and other things that were at odd with my moral center. This was with a BYU study abroad. We talked through what we saw. We evaluated what added to the storyline, what was shocking for the sake of shock, and why the directors/writers made the choices they did. Then we agreed with it or disagreed with it. We processed what we felt and thought about it as a group, and our professors engaged in the conversation. One of the benefits of theater, reading, art, is the chance to step into another person's shoes, and see the world the way they do. It is an emotional and mental exercise of empathy. This play doesn't come close to the hard things I processed as a student. However, as an actress in this play, I am able to see the world through eyes of women (and a man) who are very different from me. They speak differently, they act differently, they have had different experiences, and they portray those differences in the way they speak and act. By playing the part, I am understanding a viewpoint different than my own. That very much aligns with who I am and who I feel God wants me to be. This play is respectful in the writing, and shows empathy for different worldviews. I don't agree with everything I say, but it doesn't mean I can't speak that viewpoint, and understand where the writers and character are coming from while representing them as authentically as I can.
The Reporter: What does your husband think of the show?
The Actress: He is supportive of me doing things like this. He would never want to be on stage himself, but he likes that I do it. We read lines together a few times, and it was surprising to him how everything came out on stage. I think he was pleasantly surprised with how amazing I looked under the bright lights.
The Reporter: Thank you for your time. I can tell you are very busy, plus it is late at night. We should probably both get some sleep. I wish you luck in the next weekend of your show. Can I get your autograph?
The Actress: Oh, it was my pleasure. I can sign your program. Come to the show on Friday or Saturday night!
The Reporter: I'll be there.
Since I am a big time actress in a small town community theater, I recently did an interview with myself, asking all the hard questions.
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| A painting of the big time actress, Evelyn Hornbarger by the artist, Tom Plummer |
The Actress: Well, I have always been a bit dramatic. I figured it was time to have an audience that is actually interested in my drama instead of putting it all on the street in front of people who have no interest in that sort of thing.
The Reporter: Wow, that takes a lot of courage to get in front of people and be dramatic. How do you keep your nerves under control?
The Actress: My adrenaline just takes over. When I am in front of a crowd of 20 people, I just feed off of their energy and I want to make them laugh. It is easy to perform when I know a laugh is coming.
The Reporter: It sounds like you really enjoy making people laugh. Have you ever thought of becoming a comedian?
The Actress: I did do a comedy show last year in my basement for my husband's birthday last year. It was a lot harder to write the jokes than I ever imagined. It took hours to come up with 15 minutes of material. I don't know if I have the time to invest in that type of a hobby as a middle school teacher, aspiring novelist, and mother of four children.
The Reporter: You are busy! How do you balance it all?
The Actress: I leave all the dishes in the sink, and my laundry constantly needs washed and folded. Also, I don't have much down time. Between my facebooking hobby, and everything, there isn't much time left. I have a huge need for self-expression, so I have to get it out somehow, or I become a party pooper.
The Reporter: Tell me what your rehearsals are like.
 |
| I am the fish. Disney mom's support group meeting. I am Coral Clownfish, Nemo's mommy. |
The Actress: They were Tuesday-Thursday for two months or so. We met at the community college and freaked all the students out with our intense monologuing, fake boobs, and improvisational bursts of song. The cast all enjoys singing. One of my favorite rehearsals was when we figured out a four part harmony to "Bonjour, bonjour, it's nice to meet you" from Beauty and The Beast. (One of my co-stars has never seen that movie! And she calls herself an American. It is crazy). They were about two hours long, and for the first month we read lines. Then we went off-book and incorporated props and actions. Rehearsals were really fun. Unless I forgot a line. Then my director would tell me I need to memorize my lines and that wasn't fun. I do not like forgetting my lines nor getting yelled at.
The Reporter: Some of the content in your play is a little racey, how do you reconcile that with your religious beliefs and standards?
The Actress: In college I spent a semester studying theater in London. I saw a naked man, an on stage rape, heard a lot of crude language, and other things that were at odd with my moral center. This was with a BYU study abroad. We talked through what we saw. We evaluated what added to the storyline, what was shocking for the sake of shock, and why the directors/writers made the choices they did. Then we agreed with it or disagreed with it. We processed what we felt and thought about it as a group, and our professors engaged in the conversation. One of the benefits of theater, reading, art, is the chance to step into another person's shoes, and see the world the way they do. It is an emotional and mental exercise of empathy. This play doesn't come close to the hard things I processed as a student. However, as an actress in this play, I am able to see the world through eyes of women (and a man) who are very different from me. They speak differently, they act differently, they have had different experiences, and they portray those differences in the way they speak and act. By playing the part, I am understanding a viewpoint different than my own. That very much aligns with who I am and who I feel God wants me to be. This play is respectful in the writing, and shows empathy for different worldviews. I don't agree with everything I say, but it doesn't mean I can't speak that viewpoint, and understand where the writers and character are coming from while representing them as authentically as I can.
The Reporter: What does your husband think of the show?
The Actress: He is supportive of me doing things like this. He would never want to be on stage himself, but he likes that I do it. We read lines together a few times, and it was surprising to him how everything came out on stage. I think he was pleasantly surprised with how amazing I looked under the bright lights.
The Reporter: Thank you for your time. I can tell you are very busy, plus it is late at night. We should probably both get some sleep. I wish you luck in the next weekend of your show. Can I get your autograph?
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| The program. I will sign it later. |
The Reporter: I'll be there.
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Oh Evelyn, I love you.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. So excited for you to be a big-time actress! I love it too. But like you say, between Facebook and not doing dishes, I don't have time for much else. ;) Wish I could see you in all those roles! I definitely would have laughed for you.
ReplyDelete