It wasn't until I had the chance to get up on my feet and
perform it out loud that I started to love it. Suddenly the whole thing began
to make sense to me and it was fun. Something about seeing real, live people
embodying these words and working through the story made something click.
Shakespeare became a vastly important tool for me to understand both the
mechanics of a play and also what my role as an actor was at any time on stage.
I started to see how the author had crafted this work to have clues for
performers within the text explaining how to play a character, how to be
positioned onstage, and even how to set a pace and mood.
In college I had many opportunities to stretch my muscles and
explore my relationship with these works. One defining moment was participating
in a workshop held by the Unrehearsed Shakespeare Project on Cue Script Technique.
We learned about rules within the technique to establish character, motivation,
stage movement, among other things. This was a big eye opener to me as to what
was actually possible within the performance of Shakespearean texts. I feel
personally that artists can be most creative when they have a set of parameters
that they have to work within. It forces us to think outside the box and work
harder, which I feel always yields the best results.
After school, I moved to Pittsburgh and began to dip my toes
into the theatre scene. Before long I was fortunate to be cast in a production
of Much Ado About Nothing and the
following year in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet. These summer productions are very grueling and
difficult but always extremely rewarding both for us and our audiences. Working
with the Unrehearsed Cue Script Technique is very demanding, I like to think
about it as exercising for the acting muscle. It requires constant focus, quick
thinking and a ton of energy. They also give performers more freedom with the
loose style and ability to play different roles for each show. However the hard
work pays off time and time again when each audience receives an entirely
unique and direct experience allowing them to feel included. I feel the real
power behind this technique is that it shakes up people's expectations of
Shakespeare and allows them to hear these historical works with fresh ears.
When the performers are so in the moment it allows the audience
to be more present and work with the actors to find the meaning of what is
going on. The audience becomes another character, participating and living the
story, and in doing so allows them to feel more connected, both to the story
and the entire production, which should be the goal regardless. Theatre is
about community and sometimes in our present culture, that idea can be lost
amongst the glitz and glamour.
I am more than excited to be starting a new chapter with this
great company. While working with this company, I have learned so much and made
many good friends. I now want to use what I have learned to grow in my personal
discovery of what my role in this business is and also to see what I can do
going forward. I'm also very eager to inspire the love of Shakespeare and
theatre in others just as I was inspired.
-Nick Benninger, Resident Ensemble Member of The New Renaissance Theatre Company
