Independence

Synopsis

A family tries to heal old wounds and mend relationships while dealing with mental health issues and fear of abandonment.

Impressions

The role of Evelyn Briggs is one of the most difficult roles I have played to date. Often one of the biggest struggles as an actor is trying to read between the lines of a script. The playwright only writes what is on the page. While he may have full backstories and ideas about these characters' relationships, this information is rarely shared with the actors performing these roles. So, we have to dissect the script, use our imagination, and fill in all the missing information. This was particularly difficult with Evelyn. Due to the way she is written, it would be very easy to portray her as a villain. Her lines are frequently manipulative, bordering on cruel. But, playing her as a villain would be a disservice to the character, the actor, and ultimately the audience. Who wants to watch a melodramatic over-the-top villain in an American Realist play? So, my job was to look deeper into Evelyn as a person. I needed to find her history and her relationships with each of her daughters, her ex-husband, her neighbors, the Mental Health Institute, and the town. What I found was a very dynamic, powerful woman with an incredibly tragic past. She was so lonely and fighting tooth and nail to keep her family with her, without realizing that her actions were actually pushing them away. Once I got to know and love Evelyn, I had to craft a performance that would show the audience who she really was in spite of the many inadvertently awful and manipulative things she said. It was interesting to gauge the audience in each performance in relation to her. The younger the audience, the less they liked or understood Evelyn. The older the audience, the more life experience the audience members had, the more they empathized with Evelyn. Personally, I adore this woman and was incredibly grateful to be given the opportunity to tell her story. I hope that, in a few years when I have had more life experience, I may have the opportunity to play her again with a better understanding of the struggle she has been through.

Production photographs