Two Auburn High School journalism reporters sat down with actors Kristy Barrington and Tim Dunn following Merry-Go-Round Playhouse's recent performance of “Jerry Finnegan's Sister” for AHS students. Here are some of their insights about acting - both the product and process.
AHS: How did you feel about your performance today?
Kristy Barrington: “Sometimes it's very difficult to perform without feedback from the audience, and today the kids were great, and we got a lot of feedback. It seemed like they were really awake.”
Tim Dunn: “I felt that the performances here at Auburn were a lot of fun, so I'm excited to come back!”
AHS: Thinking back to the play, were you ever in a similar situation yourself?
KB: “Well, that's a really great question and a lot of actors use what's called sensory recall or memory recall to remember what it's like to be 7 years old, 12 years old, and I actually do remember a boy that was my neighbor and kind of the same thing went on.”
TD: “And I can kind of remember being awkward around women my entire life, so I didn't have to work on it too much.”
AHS: Now we understand that you two have been with MGR for about a year, but prior to this, how long have you been acting?
KB: “My first play was in 10th grade, and I graduated from college in 2004. I've been acting professionally since then.”
TD: “My first play was, in about sixth grade. I graduated from college just this past April, so I've been acting professionally for about six months.”
AHS: What inspired both of you to pursue acting and do you plan on doing it the rest of your life?
KB: “I started acting after I went to a really nice state-funded camp called CAPA, Creative and Performing Arts in Arkansas. When I was in about eighth grade, I was in a poetry group, but watching the other actors I got really into it and liked it. I plan to pursue this for as long as I can. I want to have a family at some point and I know that it's going to be difficult traveling around with a family, but people do do it. I would also like to get my massage therapy license.
TD: “When I was in college, it came to the point one year where I had to choose between a theater major and a psychology major, because I couldn't do both, and I just happened to pick acting because I really enjoy it. I would like to do this for the rest of my life; I would also like to teach, though. I think there's a little bit more security with teaching, and I get a lot out of teaching.”
AHS: If there was ever any play that you could be in, what play would that be and what role would you play?
KB: “I'd really like to play Hedda, in ‘Hedda Gabler.' I'd also really like to be in ‘Les Miserables.' I really don't care what role I play in that one, just to be a part of it.”
TD: “There was a musical that was really popular a few years ago, ‘Urinetown.' There was the role of Bobby Strong, and I'd really like to play that role. I would also really like to be Julius Caesar, in the play ‘Julius Caesar,' or Brutus, anything just to be a part of it.”
AHS: What was your favorite role to have played in the past?
KB: “I worked for the Sea Side Repertory Theatre and I played a role of Katherine that I really liked in a play called 'Proof' by David Auburn.”
TD: “In college, I was in Shakespeare's ‘Measure for Measure,' and I played the role of Angelo, which I really loved.”
AHS: So, in this production do you think it was overwhelming, being the only two characters?
KB: “Well, not really just because I feel that it was all right. I know that sometimes there are one-person shows, and I know that that would be completely stressful, but ... when we first started I felt as though I may have gotten the ‘shaft' or something because he (Tim Dunn) had most of the lines and basically the attention of the show, but it all worked out.”
TD: “Well, sometimes I freak out a little bit and I'm like, ‘Oh I'm still talking,' but you know I really trust Kristy and I think that that helps a lot, and it was a great performance.”
AHS: You don't think that more characters would have enhanced the play?
KB: “Two characters is what the playwright intended, so I'd say no.”
TD: “This is how this story is told, and I think that if you added more characters it wouldn't be the same story.”
Kristy Barrington: “Sometimes it's very difficult to perform without feedback from the audience, and today the kids were great, and we got a lot of feedback. It seemed like they were really awake.”
Tim Dunn: “I felt that the performances here at Auburn were a lot of fun, so I'm excited to come back!”
AHS: Thinking back to the play, were you ever in a similar situation yourself?
KB: “Well, that's a really great question and a lot of actors use what's called sensory recall or memory recall to remember what it's like to be 7 years old, 12 years old, and I actually do remember a boy that was my neighbor and kind of the same thing went on.”
TD: “And I can kind of remember being awkward around women my entire life, so I didn't have to work on it too much.”
AHS: Now we understand that you two have been with MGR for about a year, but prior to this, how long have you been acting?
KB: “My first play was in 10th grade, and I graduated from college in 2004. I've been acting professionally since then.”
TD: “My first play was, in about sixth grade. I graduated from college just this past April, so I've been acting professionally for about six months.”
AHS: What inspired both of you to pursue acting and do you plan on doing it the rest of your life?
KB: “I started acting after I went to a really nice state-funded camp called CAPA, Creative and Performing Arts in Arkansas. When I was in about eighth grade, I was in a poetry group, but watching the other actors I got really into it and liked it. I plan to pursue this for as long as I can. I want to have a family at some point and I know that it's going to be difficult traveling around with a family, but people do do it. I would also like to get my massage therapy license.
TD: “When I was in college, it came to the point one year where I had to choose between a theater major and a psychology major, because I couldn't do both, and I just happened to pick acting because I really enjoy it. I would like to do this for the rest of my life; I would also like to teach, though. I think there's a little bit more security with teaching, and I get a lot out of teaching.”
AHS: If there was ever any play that you could be in, what play would that be and what role would you play?
KB: “I'd really like to play Hedda, in ‘Hedda Gabler.' I'd also really like to be in ‘Les Miserables.' I really don't care what role I play in that one, just to be a part of it.”
TD: “There was a musical that was really popular a few years ago, ‘Urinetown.' There was the role of Bobby Strong, and I'd really like to play that role. I would also really like to be Julius Caesar, in the play ‘Julius Caesar,' or Brutus, anything just to be a part of it.”
AHS: What was your favorite role to have played in the past?
KB: “I worked for the Sea Side Repertory Theatre and I played a role of Katherine that I really liked in a play called 'Proof' by David Auburn.”
TD: “In college, I was in Shakespeare's ‘Measure for Measure,' and I played the role of Angelo, which I really loved.”
AHS: So, in this production do you think it was overwhelming, being the only two characters?
KB: “Well, not really just because I feel that it was all right. I know that sometimes there are one-person shows, and I know that that would be completely stressful, but ... when we first started I felt as though I may have gotten the ‘shaft' or something because he (Tim Dunn) had most of the lines and basically the attention of the show, but it all worked out.”
TD: “Well, sometimes I freak out a little bit and I'm like, ‘Oh I'm still talking,' but you know I really trust Kristy and I think that that helps a lot, and it was a great performance.”
AHS: You don't think that more characters would have enhanced the play?
KB: “Two characters is what the playwright intended, so I'd say no.”
TD: “This is how this story is told, and I think that if you added more characters it wouldn't be the same story.”
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