Acting Student Hannah Shealy Discusses Her Role in Upcoming Acting Thesis Production, 'Orlando'

October 06, 2022

For the first of two thesis productions featuring Columbia MFA actors presented at Lenfest this fall, the company of Orlando takes the audience on a transcendent journey through movement. We sat down with cast member and Acting student Hannah Shealy to discuss her acting process and the upcoming production of Orlando.

 

So walk me through how you prepared for the role of Orlando.

Before we had started rehearsing I was lucky enough to be in England this summer visiting my family and my Grandmother who lives very close to both Knole and Sissinghurst Castle where Vita Sackville West, who inspired the original book by Virginia Woolf, had lived. So I got to do some research there and gather inspiration. Then when rehearsals started, we quickly realized that this process would be one that lived in the abstract instead of the literal, but I still have found it so helpful to investigate the lives of Virginia and Vita.

In this process, we also jumped into our bodies right away. Knowing that, I wish I could’ve gone back and worked out all summer. It’s a very physically demanding process.

 

And how familiar were you with the movement studying for this piece? 

Our director, Jimmy Maize, brought us what he calls “moment work” from the Tectonic Theater Project which is a process where you investigate the form and language of storytelling in non-literal ways. We use our bodies to tell a story — well, actors always use their bodies to tell a story — but this is kind of more stripped down. Usually you have sets and props and costumes and lighting, and all these other elements that help you tell a story, and this is an investigation of how we tell a story without those things. 

 

I feel like there’s going to be acrobatics in this or something like that! Well, certainly no acrobatics, yet!

Well, certainly no acrobatics yet! But it’s different from what one might be used to in a realism-based style, this is more abstract and hopefully as a result, more imaginative. We’re not doing back-flips, but hopefully the audience will be taken on a journey of imagination that is sparked by the way in which we are using our bodies to tell the story.

 

Did you have a favorite part or line from this production? 

There’s so much beautiful poetry in this play and in the book. Hard to pick a favorite! Here’s a line I don’t say but that I love: “The waters took his words and tossed at his feet only a broken pot and a bit of straw.” There’s a lot of beautiful imagery in this play.

 

The main character, Orlando, goes through several shifts throughout this play - both in gender and time. How was your own experience portraying this? Were there any challenges in the amount of shifts you have to make as an actor? 

This play requires a deep investigation of gender roles and constructs, and how those have changed throughout different time periods. And certainly as an actor playing this part, my own personal journey with gender and identity has been very present for me, impossible for it not to be, so the experience in this role has been exciting and scary and all the feelings that come with that gnawing questioning of who we are. This play is about love and sex and time and growing up and a quest for identity within the constraints of our society. We have many selves, and even as Orlando journeys across time and gender and sexuality, much remains the same…I don’t want to give anything away but there’s a great line in the play that answers this question perfectly…you’ll have to come see!

 

You’re working with actors that you’ve known for the last few years. How has that made the vibe in the rehearsal room? 

It’s exciting to get to jump into a rehearsal room of actors who you trust so much. We’ve been with each other through so much these past 3+ years and having gone through a pandemic together I think there’s a simple element of joy to just be making live theatre together again. Everyone is really giving it their all.

 

And what do you hope the audience takes away from this play, in addition to the journey of imagination? 

I feel like in our technology-ridden world, we’ve gotten used to things being fed to us through tv, film, social media in a way that tells us how we are supposed to feel each moment. And I think a beautiful thing about theater is that it asks us to sit with our own imaginations and often sit with the discomfort of the unknown. All I can really hope for is that people join us, join Orlando on this journey and as a result, gather a deeper understanding of themselves and of the world around them. And maybe playfulness too — I would love them to leave with a sense of joy at having just witnessed a bunch of people at play.

 

What kind of work do you hope to be making in the next five years? 

I hope to be part of projects that inspire others and challenge the world around us. Projects that help us hold each other’s hands as we ask scary questions and as we tend to our broken hearts. Art is the great healer. But overall I just hope to do work full of deep love, care, and interrogation. And have fun! Fun is good.

 

Orlando will run from October 13 to October 16. Learn more and register for tickets here