It Runs in the Family

Yeah that's me, in a fat suit sitting down on the left.

After acting out the same brief scene from Death of a Salesman in our English class on Thursday, we got to talking about how you have to immerse yourself in a role and really become that character you're trying to portray. This can have positive effects on you and help you learn more about yourself. Or it can have negative effects on you depending on the type of character you have to portray.

Acting is such an interesting thing because you get to be someone else and that's a lot of fun. You get to step outside of any problems, stresses, or anxieties in your life and become someone who is the epitome of not you. It's fun to not care what people think of you on stage because you aren't you.

I've been in a lot of plays and musicals but by far my favorite was in high school when I played Matron in It Runs in the Family. I got to be the complete and total opposite of myself. I wore a fat suit for goodness sakes! I talked with a fake cigarette in my mouth and modeled my voice and attitude after Roz, the slug in Monster's Inc. It was the most fun I've ever had in theater. I had to learn how an overweight person acts physically (slower movements). I had to channel something that I would never be and I loved it. The best part was that after one of our shows, I tried to talk to a friend of mine who had just seen the show and she didn't recognize that I was me.

If you ever get the chance to see It Runs in the Family, I highly recommend it! It's a classic comedy of errors. The characteristics of which are a series of mistaken identity and in this play it's in a hospital no less. Just imagine: the wrong people getting shots and going loopy and of course you have your old man whose mind is going and add a long lost son to that. It's hilarious!