‘Pride and Prejudice’ actors share their perspectives

After a long day of school, students in this year’s fall play, “Pride and Prejudice,” cannot wait to escape the stresses of school and enter the welcoming Thermond Drama Center for  rehearsal. While some of these students are new to the program and others are veterans, all call drama home.

“Pride and Prejudice” centers around the protagonist  Elizabeth Bennet, played by senior Emily Ludwig, who deals with Victorian society’s standards for women in conduct  and marriage. The play follows two couples: Fitzwilliam Darcy, played by junior JT Hulme and Elizabeth Bennet, and Charles Bingley, played by junior Zach Grob-Lipkis and Jane, played by junior Saya Sivaram. The show will be directed by drama teacher Sarah Thermond.

The show will premiere on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., as well as Nov. 20 and 21 at 7:30.

Freshman makes new connections

Freshman Joan McCarthy plays Mrs. Forster, a friend of one of the Bennet sisters. Prior to “Pride and Prejudice,” McCarthy participated in two musicals while at Redwood Middle School, but he is finding the fall play much more exciting.

“High school productions are [more] fun and the people participating are a lot less cliquey and tighter knit,” McCarthy said. “We also get [work] done quickly, and we are doing more in rehearsal.”

Even in middle school, McCarthy was well acquainted with  the school’s drama department, thanks to many hours spent watching productions starring her two brothers, class of 2015 alumnus Jack, and current junior Raymond. Because McCarthy is taking Drama 1 this year, she decided to the join the play as well.

“It's really fun acting and hanging out with all my drama friends, especially because I usually don't see them that often during school,” McCarthy said.

She feels that the upperclassmen friends she has made through the play have also given her sound advice about what to expect in high school, as well as activities and programs  she could get involved in at her four years at Saratoga High.

McCarthy said some of her favorite memories are of learning the dances in the fall play.

“Near the end of [the first dance] rehearsal, some of us started to lose focus, and when we started to run through the dances we all screwed up and were laughing at how badly we did,” McCarthy said. “We're much better now, I promise.”

 

Sophomore applies insights from freshman year

Once a newcomer to the drama department like McCarthy, sophomore Katie Sabel, now a veteran, plays Mrs. Reynolds, Darcy’s housekeeper.

As a sophomore, Sabel said it is more difficult to balance her academic workload with play rehearsals.

“Drama has become my time to relax before having to go home and deal with sophomore projects and homework,” Sabel said.

As a freshman, Sabel learned about “auditioning, expression, articulation and volume,” and she has applied these skills while rehearsing for this year’s fall play since her role requires a British accent. Moreover, Sabel said that she has learned much about 19th century Britain.

“‘Pride and Prejudice’ is definitely more culture oriented than the other plays I’ve done,” Sable said. We learned a lot about the people of the time and the dances and status, and how status relates to dialect. I was actually able to learn a lot about my character that way.”

Sabel wishes she had more time to get to know the rest of the cast. Since rehearsals are extremely focused on running through scenes, Sabel says there is not much downtime for the cast.

“I think as we move into the McAfee [bonding will] get easier, because in the McAfee there's a definite backstage area that we'll all hang out in when we're not onstage,” Sabel said.

 

Junior balances schedule, but struggles with accent

Grob-Lipkis plays Charles Bingley, the wealthy and good-natured man who initially pursues and ends in a relationship with Jane Bennet. Grob-Lipkis is learning how to balance junior year with rehearsals.

Grob-Lipkis has rehearsals anywhere from three to four days a week, each for three hours long.

While rehearsing for the play, Grob-Lipkis especially enjoys listening to the multitude of witty comebacks, made by characters like Elizabeth and Darcy, but struggles to master the British accent.

“Most people are pretty good at [British accents], but I'm terrible with accents,” Grob-Lipkis said.

 

Senior gains insight into intonation

Senior Neeki Tahmassebi plays Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth and Jane’s mother, who spends the play trying to marry off her five daughters.

“My character [is] an extremely fun role to play,” Tahmassebi said. “My tone of voice is high and squeaky, and I get to push every one of my daughters to get married.”

Tahmassebi said her character has showed her how language and tone of voice can play a large role in characterization.

For instance, Tahmassebi has to make sure that when conversing to wealthy men, she delivers her lines with an intonation that matches the intensity of the man’s wealth, since Mrs. Bennet's main goal is to marry her daughters to rich men.

Through different roles and the drama elective, Tahmassebi said she has been transformed by the drama department these past four years. She said that the program has provided her an outlet to become an outspoken and outgoing person, compared to her more timid freshman self.

“Being on stage gives me a sense of pride of being able to let yourself go on stage and be the character and let that character come together,” Tahmassebi said.