Last week I got the chance to sit down with seniors Gus Thomas and Randy Brooks, who are completing the theatre major with acting senior projects in the upcoming production of Twelfth Night, opening March 3rd. Tickets are available starting February 22nd. 

Erin: So you two are doing your senior projects with Twelfth Night! Can you tell me what roles you are playing?

Randy: I am Randy and I am playing Malvolio.

Gus: And I am Gus and I am playing the Duke Orsino.

R: Very opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of jokes.

E: How is your process in terms of acting for your senior project different or expanded from acting in part of the regular season?

G: For me, I felt like I needed to do a lot of memorization and work before coming into rehearsal. In figuring out who my character was before rehearsal so I could get farther along. Then I came in the first day and everything I had researched just kind of flew up in the air and I kind of started new. It was kind of shocking and kind of nice to know that all these questions that research couldn’t answer were coming to my head.

R: It’s difficult because we’ve known we were going to play these roles for almost a year now. So we did a lot of preparation for the show, like Gus said, but then there is only so much we can do that exists in our brains for so long and now we have to match it up with what Chris’s idea of the show is. What was nice was we got to hold auditions before winter break and so we got to talk to Chris about his take and the elements he wanted to bring out in this production. But I’m in the same boat as Gus; I had my research, and then I got here and it was like, “oh! I didn’t even think about it that way!” The roles are constantly opening up in new ways. There is a lot of research into the show itself and the themes it’s presenting.

G: Also I didn’t realize until the first days of rehearsal how much of an ensemble cast Twelfth Night is. All of the characters I had been reading about were cast and it changed the dynamic because our imaginations of those characters shifted.

R: Every relationship we have with each other and the cast is pretty nuanced anyway and so we are finding new information about these characters in Twelfth Night as we know who we are working with. It’s a play about community— a silly community— and the light-hearted joyousness we bring together as a group really helps bring out the nature of the play I think. Which we couldn’t do until we had the cast!

E: I heard that there is a lot of music and singing in Twelfth Night. Are you guys singing as your characters and what is that like in the rehearsal room?

R: I’m singing, unsurprisingly, haha.

E: You are a music major as well?

R: Yeah, a vocal performance major. My involvement since I was a first year was sort of musical based and bringing my musical training from the department over here has been very fun. We have a composer, Robinson Witmer. He is from Seattle. We got to meet him during auditions back in December. We got to play around with the music and see what it was like and I was so happy the first time I heard it. It is good music, it doesn’t take itself to seriously, it’s folky, it’s fun, it will give the audience an avenue into the show. It’s been really fun getting to work with a composer on the process of creating music for the show. I think that’s been the most rewarding thing for me as both a theatre-maker and a musician.

G: Yeah, I don’t sing, but I do have the pleasure of talking over a lot of the music that was written which has proven itself to be a challenge that I was unaware of at the beginning. A lot of my text is underscored and so one of my challenges is having to make sure my voice goes over the music.

R: It’s very atmospheric. A lot of singing, there are musicians on stage for the entire show.

G: You just kind of get lost in it.

E: What are your favorite parts of rehearsals so far?

G: My favorite parts of rehearsal are probably towards the end because every night at the end of rehearsal I have new questions about Twelfth Night. I have new questions about the Duke. I get excited about those questions and pursuing them further and having them overlay into rehearsal the next day and feeling it get more complex every time we run over something and feeling more natural to be doing it.

R: It’s been really fun! The rehearsals themselves have been a very good time. When we are onstage and creating the show it feels like we are playing, really. I laugh so much at rehearsals and I don’t leave when I am done. I stay and watch other people perform because I love the show so much and they are making me laugh and Chris is working with them and making jokes. It feels like it has been light hearted and like breathing, its so much fun. The process itself has been the most fun for me.

E: Great! Thank you for meeting with me.

R: Of course!