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Shakespeare and Possibility, Part 5: The Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company

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Shakespeare and Possibility continues with our conversation with several recently-graduated Notre Dame seniors from the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company, Notre Dame’s student-run Shakespeare club, re-established in 1997. These students, the “NSR” class of 2024, had the unique experience of entering their freshman year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Over their four years as undergraduates, “NSR” produced 8 mainstage Shakespearean productions and more than 10 auxiliary performances. 

The Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company is home to some of the most dedicated and passionate students on campus. These students come from multiple colleges and communities across the University but have taken the stage united by the inspiration, camaraderie, and possibility they found in Shakespeare. Join us in a conversation celebrating their 2024 commencement and the joy they have cultivated, both by their artistic accomplishments and in their friendships within the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company.  

If you are interested in joining the club or auditioning for the shows, please email nsrsco@nd.edu to join the email list. You can also follow the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Comany Instagram page, @nsr_shakespeare, for more information on past and future productions. 

Thanks for listening! The ThinkND Podcast is brought to you by ThinkND, the University of Notre Dame's online learning community. We connect you with videos, podcasts, articles, courses, and other resources to inspire minds and spark conversations on topics that matter to you — everything from faith and politics, to science, technology, and your career.

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5

Hi everyone, my name is Kate Kappelman. I'm the general manager of Shakespeare at Notre Dame, and I'm sitting here with the, class of 2024. Nassau Royal Shakespeare Company participants and actors and directors and producers, the people who make the university's only student run Shakespeare company happen. you guys are in the middle of your senior week, commencement week, and we appreciate your time coming together to Reminisce on the best club

3

It's not bashing, just telling the truth.

5

currently I work as the journal manager for Shakespeare in Her Name, and I'm also a very proud alumna of this club. This club is the reason that I got into theatre, my first ever show doing theatre, period, was. Alice's, Romeo, and Juliet, and I never looked back, I'm so grateful for it. a lot of you guys came in as freshmen in 2020. We're in the middle of a pandemic, and let me just list the shows that have occurred. In your time being here. and as a real estate company started in 1997 it has been an institution as someone who was in the club and has had the privilege of watching it flourish after I've gone has only grown in its Ambition and its strength and community. So this is a really special group of graduates and I'm lucky to be sitting here with them. So in your time, I'm going to list the main stage productions that Not So Royal Shakespeare Company has produced. Not So Royal, we're going to refer to it as NSR, as everyone does. You have produced Julius Caesar, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Winner's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Love's, Labor's Lost, and Richard III. And that's not to mention all the new work from students that you guys have produced, and a myriad of other special events. that's a lot to produce. Can you guys raise your hand if you were in Julius Caesar? What was it like? coming out of high school, with this, pandemic looming over you, I know I was in the middle of my college career, so having that kind of graduation taken, and then immediately coming into this world of trying to find my way in college, how do I make the most of my experience in this really weird time?

6

I feel like I'm just so lucky to have found NSR so early, the story I always tell is that, I was going to do a different show on campus and it got canceled because of a COVID outbreak I was walking to South Dining Hall and saw the poster for Caesar Auditions and thought, I'll try that. I don't really care about Shakespeare that much, but sure. I looked at the, audition packet and saw it was like, Oh, rehearsals are from seven to 10 and I have a class on Tuesday, Thursday and Wednesday that are in that time period. Cause I had night classes as a freshman and I couldn't make it to auditions. I thought, Oh man, I'm not going to be able to be in this. but I sent an email to Ballard, the director and I said, Hey, I'm not going to be able to act. because of these conflicts, but, maybe I can do something tech related. I just love to be involved. Ballard got back, we can just do a zoom audition at some point that works for you. if we like what we see, we'll see what we can do with you.

3

I

5

I was the assistant director on that show and I remember all the auditions were on Zoom, I remember Ballard being like, I'm going to give this guy a shot. Really, he really throws us away as we can include him and Ballard was like, We gotta get Dominic! I was like, he can make it work, but he has, like, all these conflicts. I've realized I forgot to do introductions. Can you guys say, your name, where you're from originally, and what you study here in Harvard? Great, thank you.

8

Hi, I'm Anna Falk. I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I study neuroscience with a minor in Irish studies.

9

I'm Megan Sherry. I'm from Cambridge, Ohio, and I study psychology

10

I'm Brittany Alvarez. I'm from Louisville, Indiana, and I study civil engineering and environmental earth science.

9

I'm Anna Schmidt. I'm from Alabama, and I double majored in the program of liberal studies and film television and theater. I'm Natalie Elton. I'm from Columbus,

1

Ohio, and I study neuroscience.

11

I'm Hannah Smith. I'm from Parker, Colorado. I'm also in the program of liberal studies with Anna. I have a double major in theology and my minor's in Chinese.

12

Hi, I'm Isabel Olashinsky. I am from downtown Chicago and I double major in political science and English with a minor in constitutional studies. And a creative writing concentration. That's a lot.

2

I'm Josh Lehman. I come from the small town of Elk Point, South Dakota. I'm an electrical engineer and I'm also in Army ROTC.

13

My name is John Donnarumma. I'm from Grainger, Indiana. I studied civil engineering with a minor in energy studies.

6

I'm Dominic Keen, I'm from Walla, Washington, I double majored in Electrical Engineering with a Semiconductor Concentration and, Film Theater and Television with a Theater Concentration.

5

That's something worth talking about too, this impresses, I think a lot of people who don't know a lot about, I don't want to say Notre Dame students, but the club in general, it's wow, you guys, have a full plate with a million things that you're studying, but you're studying such diverse things like, engineering, neuroscience, PLS takes up plenty of your time, as I know, but it's not just theater. In fact, maybe MSR was The starting point for the love of theater that then grew to a more rigorous academic pursuit

6

I wanted to bring up the scheduling system it's the thing that I sell to people when I'm trying to get them to join the club NSR is so good about being flexible with people's schedules. You could be the busiest person on the planet. if you really wanted to be in a show with NSR, you could do it because the way that we do the scheduling is we have a Google spreadsheet and the stage manager is a total magician at the beginning of every week, you put in every conflict that you have, and then the stage manager builds the entire schedule around every single person's conflicts Everybody manages to make it to rehearsal when they can and so many of us are, double majors, doing majors that took absurd amounts of time, and it just always worked.

5

I think that speaks to the dedication of you guys as students. There's no, academic credit that you guys are earning for doing this, and it takes a lot of time, especially if you've moved up to a role of, you're playing lead, you're directing, you're in the advent team, it takes a lot of time. Can you guys speak to the passion that it takes to really get this going? it never felt like a burden, even though it took up so much of my time.

12

Yeah, I think, NSR, it's not gonna, in terms of, my academic career, exactly, help me other clubs, This is something I purely do for fun. I've been studying Shakespeare for seven years. I did it in high school. part of my like application essay when I was applying to Notre Dame, I did mention NSR, because I would do like Shakespeare competitions all through high school, I already came with a different of a story than other folks, but I came into kind of knowing I wanted to continue doing Shakespeare even in college, I've managed to make it work, here. I think the reason I've managed to make it work is because of the group of people I'm acting with and being with, Legitimately, my favorite part of Notre Dame has been doing NSR and the people I've met through NSR and the friendships I've created, which I know are going to last lifetimes.

3

it's a really affirming challenge.

5

So that's funny, I didn't know that you knew about it, going into it. More the exception, coming in. can anyone else speak to how they discovered NSR? And maybe we can get more into talking about, our first shows that we did with the club. we touched on Caesar a little bit, but how else did you guys find NSR? was it by reputation alone,

8

I know a lot of people who come in, simply because they have friends who are in an SR. I've been, a friend SR for, years. one of our alum, Grace Gasper, put on, an auxiliary play called Little Princess for her thesis, and that's how I got into it. And then eventually ended up, doing tech and then acted in this past show. NSR for me was a creative outlet, because I was doing a lot of other, STEM stuff and complex, leadership this is something that I get to do, and I get to be with friends, and I get to be in this community. Supportive and creative and fulfilling space that you don't really, get very much, it's not a common thing to find this support system is, no other. it's just unlike anything I've experienced in, my life. It's truly incredible.

2

I joined the spring semester of my junior year, and it was just off the tails of studying abroad in London with Dominic. we got the opportunity to see Much Ado About Nothing, at the Globe, and that was incredible. Love that show. when we came back to campus in the spring semester, I saw the posters for much ado about nothing. I knew if any show was worth making the time out of the busy schedule, it'd be this one. I had said, you know what, I changed my mind. I'm not doing the audition and went to, Hamlet over five, an auxiliary show we did. John said, they'll make the time for you just audition. And if you wouldn't have said that I wouldn't have joined the club. one thing that I'll say about, how it interacts with your schedule. I come from, electrical engineer, army ROTC, very intense, very strict schedule, very overwhelming. When I joined NSR, you guys were just immediately welcoming, just a great group of friends that immediately welcomed me in. It was so good to have a creative outlet that I can work through. I honestly think it made me a better engineer and a better soldier, having this creative outlet and having this community that I knew supported, not only my acting ambitions, but everything on the side as well. that was really impactful.

7

Yeah.

6

I think people keep bringing up community, and I think that's the core of NSR, is that this group of people and the culture amongst this group of people is what makes this all so rewarding and so lovely. We're a group of friends who happen to do theatre together, more so than, oh, we're a production company that hangs out at events it's never really a burden to do the shows. it's a lot of work, but to me it was always an excuse at the end of the day, no matter how terrible my day had been, to hang out with my friends for an hour or two of rehearsal. And it was more so that I was enjoying being with my friends, than it was like, oh, I gotta go and work on this role, It's the happiness of being around your friends that allows us to put on a good show. Because we're all having fun all the time. one of the things I always look for when I go watch a show is, can I tell are these actors having fun? And if they're not having fun, it's always a little bit, sacked. we're always having fun together. We're always going out to dinner together, seeing a movie together, going over to each other's houses. that community is what makes the work as good as it is.

1

I think it's a feedback loop, it became a question a couple years ago of are we a group of friends who does theater coincidentally or are we a theater troupe who are also friends? it's built concurrently in a way that benefits every show. you can see the work that you put into it, the work that your best friends are putting into it. and I think we come out the other side of every production knowing that we've put on something quality. Not just because we feel like we have to or we feel like we have an obligation. But because we want to and we want to see each other succeed. in a way that I think you'd be hard pressed to find. In any other club at Notre Dame, but also maybe, across the country.

5

Yeah. I think that kind of love and community is rare. Notre Dame is this fantastic place, full of fantastic people, but this is such an epicenter. And I think that's what draws people in. Maybe overcoming, the barrier of Shakespeare. here's this guy that, the club is surrounded, by the works of, Was there any trepidation about Shakespeare itself doing that kind of work, initially for you guys, or more fruitfully, what have you gained from doing Shakespeare specifically in this kind of context? what kind of new ownership, what new things have you learned from doing his work specifically? it took me until my fifth year to actually, start acting within the club. I'd done theater my whole life, but Shakespeare felt like a new monster to, take on. This seems so unique. And thanks to Josh harping on me for an entire

10

Richard was great. And I think what helps is every rehearsal feels like a playground. the two scenes I had were really intense. I'm yelling at everyone going crazy, but we'd stop and change something. It felt rejuvenating and made it less scary because Josh was great about saying, we do this all the time. We sit there and just what does this mean? Translate it to like, how would we talk today?

5

Work through that. And then it becomes secondhand nature. Like I get this, everything is just thoughts. It's just making sure those thoughts are said in your own voice and you become the vessel for it. it made it really accessible and fun. all of my friends are like, I like Shakespeare now. this is great because it's so tangible for audience members. They see how fun it is and how we've engaged with the text. It takes down those like. Barrier than some philosophical high art when it's just a lot of fun. Yeah, it's not just it's not just a text to read and it's like very hyper elite academic institution It's like this is something to be performed and how much Life that breathes into it. I think you guys are a real beacon of that on campus Shakespeare's alive, like Shakespeare is something that you didn't expect.

2

And I actually stole that from Hannah, who for both Plum Slaver's Loss and for Richard, we did nearly an entire week of only table work of knowing exactly what the words are. everybody wants to get on their feet and act, but until you know what you're saying, that just brings so much life into the script once the actors are actually on their feet. Another thing about, this community in NSR is it makes for a uniquely selfless acting experience and something that I was thrilled to find when I directed Richard III this semester. people were really giving it their all, in the rehearsal room, not just because they wanted to shine, but because they wanted to give their best to each other person in the scenes with them. we wanted to create this fantastic show, not for ourselves, but for each other and that we so much life into the process that was incredibly invaluable.

6

One more thing I want to add. To what you and Natalie are both saying about the community is, I think that it's easy to see us together and think, oh, there's such a great group of friends. but I think that NSR is also one of the most welcoming groups of people I've ever seen in my life. Going back to when I started with Caesar and watching people trickle into the club over the last four years I have never seen a group of people immediately absorb stuff as quickly and effectively as NSR it seems like when I was in Caesar, it was immediately like hey Do you want to come out to dinner with us? I know, when Jack got casted, what'd you do? I sent him a text, I was like, hey, a couple of us are going to Ballard's house later tonight, do you want to come? And Jack was like,

2

the night the casting list dropped, we went to this party over at Ballard's house, I ate one hot chicken from Dave's Hot Chicken, and I had a group of friends for the rest of my life.

8

one thing similar to, my experience of Shakespeare and my experience with NSR is that, the text itself is intimidating, the works are often very intellectual, it's hard to, want to, put yourself into that kind of, hard work, seeing Anastar, this big group of friends, you don't want to, intrude, but It's a complex relationship, as you get into it, it's actually a lot less scary. Yeah, Shakespeare itself is very universal in a lot of different ways. There's a lot of, experiences that are very common to a lot of people. the language itself isn't, evident when you first read it, but at some point you just get it. You build those muscles through that.

5

anytime I talk about MSAR, I'm like, You guys have such, your Shakespeare muscles are so strong. not because you're, an English major who's read this or that. It's because you're out there doing it, have it, living in your body. It's something that you can't overstate the magic of that.

1

That's something I'm very proud of with NSR. I was executive producer for this year and that was one of the things that, really sticks out I came into NSR having done high school theater, having never touched Shakespeare really in my life. I'd never seen a production, I'd read it, but never really tried to live it, something NSR does exceptionally well and that I'm very proud of is that we teach people not just how to do theater, we've done acting exercises, we teach people tech if they need to know it, but also The language of Shakespeare and the muscles. We helped build those to the point that I came in not knowing really anything about Shakespeare, and this past year having directed and rehearsed, taught those muscles to freshmen, people coming in. it is a kind of magic, I think.

6

And on teaching and developing the Shakespeare muscles. One of the things that I've realized is that developing the Shakespeare muscles develops your acting muscles to the highest degree. Because now I feel, working in other acting classes, working on non Shakespeare shows, that having to analyze the text a lot more closely for Shakespeare, having to think about, what am I doing? What am I saying? What are the people saying to me? How does that affect me? In a very intentional way, because the language is maybe not as clear Forces me to immediately start thinking about that in other realms of acting and in other texts that I might normally just pick up and go, Oh, yeah, I know what this is saying. Let's do it. I'm ready. having developed the Shakespeare muscles, I feel like I can go on to do anything in theater and apply what I know here and it's going to make it just as good.

5

Are there particular, really special moments in a part you've acted where you're like, Oh, I love this role and this scene in particular, Is there something you're like, dang, that person rocked it and I love that moment of their performance so much. your own and other people's, yeah.

11

One thing that I've been thinking about, with the conversation about, how this group brings a unique energy to Shakespeare is, when we did Love's Labour's Lost in the Fall. Yeah, but it's a famously very dense text, and a lot of it is written in rhyme, and it can seem distant, but there's one really magical scene, it's very silly, all of these guys, realize that they're in love with these women and it's a big scandal, but the way you guys really brought it out, Josh played our King of Vivar, and, John played Longaville, and, it was just so magical because you captured the youthful energy of a group of friends who have known each other for a long time. it felt very real. You were able to bring, the friendship that you had developed outside, of, club events into the space, which is gorgeous.

13

I was actually also going to talk about Love's Laver's Lost and playing Longaville because a lot of my biggest hurdles as an actor when I first joined NSR was not like trying not to be nervous on stage, which what I learned recently the goal is not necessarily to not be nervous, but to let your body do the work and breathe because you've already done the work, while I was doing Love's Labor's Lost. to get myself to breathe, I would just look at myself in the mirror and just go, John, it's not that deep.

4

I became such a better actor.

13

And I think the reason why I learned that was because people in NSR were so welcoming and inclusive to me, but also because I was able to do a fun play like Loveslavers Lost for once, because even in the comedies, things like that, even in Measure for Measure, I was About to die. I just need to chill for one semester. So Wonderwall was the perfect way to chill. John

6

brought up Measure for Measure and I think that for me, that was one of the more magical shows for a lot of reasons, but the thing that I've been thinking about recently a lot is, right at the end of Measure for Measure when everybody gets unmasked and we realize all the things that have been happening, playing across from Ryan as Vuccio. And Ryan is such a serious stern individual. in that show, he was so loose and funky and weird, there's a moment where I, as the Duke, had been pretending to be a priest for most of the play, and the way that I disguised myself as a priest was I had the collar on, but I also had these glasses, he had been insulting the Duke to my face for most of the play. at some point in this last scene, he slaps me across the face, and as I turn around, I pull the glasses off, and I look at Ryan, the look on Ryan's face, the gasp of surprise, it was one of those magical moments I just think back to all the time. Absolutely loved. and just that whole show, getting to, the, seeing you two do the Isabella and, Claudio scene.

5

feel that deep in that scene.

9

It

13

was that deep.

9

It was that deep, but then other times you're like, damn, this is pretty heavy.

13

that was a hefty monologue. Yeah. Yeah.

9

Everyone in Metro for Metro was having so much fun,

13

That's what Harrison. Like backstage

5

I was crying. Everyone else is laughing at the storm.

1

Adventure was one of those shows where the tone is, both backlash. where it is a full comedy and a full tragedy and you have to do both. that was something Alex Ford, who is the director and me, who is assistant director, we had so many conversations about What is the tone of this scene? What is the tone of this line? How do we convey what we want to convey without it feeling cheap, but yeah, conveying the drama of the situation. and that was something that the cast did phenomenally well. I'm so proud of you guys, We would swing from these heavy moments where, it's Angelo and Isabella, and you're crying, Harrison, played Angelo, and he was just a force, then we'd cut to the Duke having the time of his life on his vacation. it was one of those shows where it was so much work to put together, and I think especially in Tech Week was an uphill battle, but at the end, What a product.

11

It strikes me that we've done a lot of shows with really intense tone shifts over the course of about four years, in Richard III, it doesn't seem like there should be that many tone shifts, but, it was those, finding the balance between those comedic moments and those really serious moments that you did so well, Josh. I appreciate it. it really gave it life, and ensured that it didn't fall flat. That's what made it poignant, those higher moments of comedy that, Anna, you had, which were just fantastic.

2

One moment that I was so proud of as a director during Richard III was during Tech Week, and we have this scene where, we have the two different sides of the war coming in and coming out of the war table. We had a very choreographed view. We had all these lines. And we were going through during tech week and I'm going to keep keeping John's praises here. he played Richmond across from Dominic's Richard. it was during tech week, we're doing a full run and one of the monologues had gotten skipped. we had gotten out of order. And my first thought was, Oh no. And then they immediately adjusted to it. we had six people on stage who just immediately adjusted to this new change. that was the moment that I was like, wow, they don't just have this rehearsed. This show is theirs. I never worried again about how that show would go after that moment, because I knew that show was your guys.

6

Another really magical moment that all of you got to watch was, in Hamlet Over Five. And I think Ballard's Claudius monologue near the end of Hamlet Over Five was one of the best things I've ever seen.

5

speak to Hamlet Over Five, what that means, maybe where the inspiration came from? Yeah, so This wasn't a typical main stage show. No. In addition to doing, a huge show every semester, it does, various other things, just, an auxiliary show, and we can talk to more how those have been developed later, but Hamlet Over Five.

6

Hamlet Over Five was one of the first major auxiliary shows, because I know Alex did, New Jerusalem, and that was like a stage reading, and we had said over the summer, what if we did the Actress in One stage comes to campus, Once every year, sometimes once a semester, and, the concept of Actors from the London Stage is it's five British actors and they come and they put on a Shakespeare show with just all the roles played by five people and constantly switching their hats and running around and there's a large set of rules that help define the scene. An AFTLS style show in that, all of the props and costumes have to fit into one big suitcase. each actor is only allowed one suitcase So they can all fit in one car and travel across the country. they have to define the space and there are different rules. one summer we thought, what if we did just a five person show? What if we could do something like AFTLS? Christina and Ballard were very involved in putting that show together, and casting it. it ended up being me, Jenna, Noah, Christina, and Ballard. we cut the script together. We sat down, each of us went through the script once and said, I'd like to add this line back in. No, we should really cut this section. It doesn't work. over the course of a couple of weeks, including a short stay at, Ballard's house over Christmas break. We rehearsed the show, costumed the whole thing ourselves, and went up to the lab and did this show with only five people, of Hamlet, It was a really bizarre experience. I don't know if I would want to do it again anytime soon. It was really stressful, but at the same time, I think it was also really interesting to see how we handled the conflicts of just five people. We were all co directors and whether it wasn't one person who was in charge. but I'm very proud of a lot of things that we've done with NSR. it's one of the things I'm proudest of doing with NSR because it was so Out there and funky and it was such a commitment from each person in that group to take on. we did all the space reservations. scheduling ourselves. costuming and cutting of the script. And it was just, that Ballard's, final Claudius monologue blew me away every night. that's magical. I don't know.

1

I think historically, Hamlet 5 is also a shift for the club. when we started doing auxiliary productions, it was, Alex's New Jerusalem stage reading, and then a break, and then Hamlet 5. that was a moment where the board, took a look and said, these are people who are still participating fully in our main productions. You played leads in both of the shows that year, and in Hamlet 5. Christina did that, Ballard was involved, Jen was involved, so many people, we took a look and said, what if we tried to do more than one choice semester, what would that look like?

5

and so that same semester, you do that because there's just so much love and it's also the freedom you guys have afforded to make yourselves, because

2

I think that's the big part of the story to me is that NSR is student led and passion driven. this was started as off the format of actors from the London stage, but really Ballard and Christine are the ones that made it happen. if you join NSR and you have the passion and you are willing to put in the work, there's so much that you can do. I never would have imagined the things that could be done in this club.

3

Are there some other examples of auxiliary shows that we've

8

I assistant directed Rodeo and Juliet at the same time. Rodeo and Juliet, which is a western reimagining of Rodeo and Juliet. I direct, or I assistant directed that, with our director, Mac Pittman, at the same time I was stage managing for Labors. which was an experience. Yeah. to say the least. but. I, I hadn't, known too much about, what was going on until, Mack and I just sat down one time during, the beginning of the semester and I was like, Hey, I wanna work with you, this sounds really cool. And she just kinda, gushed about, like, all that had happened, cause she had gone through a lot of different struggles trying to figure out what show to do and, how to work it around, she had cut Romeo and Juliet into a 45 minute script, which you don't think could be possible. she made it so we were working through on rehearse this past semester and I forgot that the balcony speech was so long because the way that Matt cut it, it was just so succinct. it worked, and so we worked really hard with, a lot of different people in our cast, we added in some various, how bes and, changed around some of, the language to make it a little more, not necessarily contemporary, but, more contemporary than Shakespeare's language, at least, it was a really special show because it was also unique because we only had one time to do it. And we probably could have done it another time or two, but it was unique because we're like, this is the one time to do it. It's such a small cast. We really bonded quickly. it was a very short turnaround because a lot of our cast was also in labors. labors happened then it was Thanksgiving and then it was tech week for rodeo. it was about a month rehearsal process for rodeo. So everyone who was in it, like John, Isabel, and Natalie. I mean, you choreographed for it, right? it was insane work by everyone and it was phenomenal. it was short, but We got to rehearse it a lot. We really got it down. It was great.

11

I think the other thing that strikes me about that show was how you so innovatively incorporated dance into it. And the last few productions, really, since we did have a dance in The Winter's Tale, right? I think that's where we started incorporating more of that, but yeah, we've had, what, we've had tangos, we've had square dances, mamba, marimba, rumba, swing.

5

think that really speaks to the growing ambition of this club. it's one of those things, it's okay. We know we can do Shakespeare, we know we can do so much Shakespeare, how can we make these productions really, exciting, pushing us, feeding our excitement about those things? So I think that's something that I really enjoyed seeing, as someone who's, a graduate of the club and coming back and seeing you guys, and it's been really special. As someone who also did Romeo and Juliet with you, that was my first show with NSR, but I also did Rodeo,

10

I want to just attest to, It was so well done, like comparing the two. I thought it was like a weird bookend because I, didn't know if I was gonna do Richard and I was like, oh, freshman show, senior show. Both translated the story so well, the Ock shows are really bringing us into a new light, a new era that we are able to make it fresh, make it new, but it is still authentic,

5

It's the same thing, but just such a fun twist and a true playground for everyone.

2

You mentioned, the growing ambition and utilizing the talent of our actors. there's a scene in Richard III, where we just found out the king is dead. I wanted to represent the royal family's ambivalence by, having, Anna and Andrew Arcidiacono, who played Rivers and Gray. have this, substance fueled party, to represent that, they do this eccentric mambo all over the stage and end with them crashing to the floor, I thought, this is a big ask, this is gonna take a lot of time, not just in the rehearsal room, but in, the dance studio. And after giving it to my choreographers, day two, they had the whole thing down. it absolutely blew me away, the incredible deep pool of talent that we have in our actors.

6

I was so impressed with Richard because you and I have been working on the opening scene, the opening monologue with her about discontent. And we knew that there was going to be this big dance number that would start the show. With Henry the Sixth, I shoot Henry the Sixth and then everybody runs out and dances while I glare at the audience and then do whatever I was content everyone leaves and we knew that dance thing's gonna happen and we have Our first rehearsal and I knew that people have been figuring out the choreography and practicing it I thought yeah, it's gonna be a mess the first time we do it, We'll figure it out and we said all Let's do it. And we did it and it was perfect. You guys had the dance down exactly right. I just slid right into it and it was one of the more amazing rehearsals I ever went to because everything clicked. First time. I couldn't believe it. All love and

2

credit to our choreographer. Annabelle Johnson as well. Helped out on that one. you guys are such a fantastic team and we always pull through These fantastic dance numbers in the middle of these Shakespeare productions.

10

The whiplash you go through from dancing at the beginning of Richard to then going into those Lady Anne scenes always stressed me out, Bex. So happy and then instantly just so heartbreaking, even if I was like behind the curtain or not in the same room, my heart broke for you after watching you have the time of your life dancing. So props to you.

5

It stressed

9

me out too.

5

Can we talk about some fun moments, some mishaps, some moments in with them? We've already talked about, lifted up some really great, gags, in Love's Labors, which is such a wonderful seed potential.

12

this was taming of the shrew. this was a rehearsal. We were doing, and we were doing, the dinner, serve at sea. Yeah. With Dom as prosciutto, and Valor playing one of the servants, for that scene. And we were gonna plan that, Dom throws, water in Valor's face, Because he's having, a temper tantrum.

6

Oh, what if I splashed it on him?

12

And

6

get me more water.

12

he had a water bottle and Ballard offered it to, him to throw in

6

The cap was off, by the way.

12

there was a miscommunication and Ballard didn't think that Donald was going to throw it in his face at that time. it was full of lemonade. we were rehearsing this and D. O. G. just sprays it all, all over him. And Valorant is just what the hell? It makes character and

6

In my defense, he hands me a full Hydro Flask with the cap off and I said, I'm reminded of many lighting mishaps, two of my favorites being, many, yeah, many is maybe, one of them being during Macker's.

5

this one I do have to take responsibility for. I don't know, Hannah, if you remember this, but we were just doing some event and our two leads at My Prison Playdium were come back and yadda and I was telling this funny story, I'm like, oh, this guy at the event thought it was Merchant of Venice and I turned and said, no, it's, and I said, hit the point. that was my fault. I will not forget the look on your face when you were like, I didn't. it was like our second to last show too. I was like, I should have known better.

11

about it? Yeah. Also for context, Kate, you directed Macruz and I, assistant director.

5

that was my senior fall show. and everything was so wonderful. for those familiar with the show, it starts out with some, witch lines and then, bloody sergeant comes out wounded and they're, has a talk with King Duncan. talking about the reports of the field and the war it starts off and, the witches say their lines it's still dark, maybe there weren't folks in the booth, still dark. And I'm like, hey wait, that's cool. The witches are saying that lines, everything's dark, I'm like, that kind of works. Okay, we can save this. We can salvage this. And then poor Ballard, comes out, doing his best voice acting in the dark, in this, lab theater with a room of, 80 people and Bally's just heaving in the dark for a full two minutes? Before our stage manager just turns up the house lights and was like, sorry guys, we gotta go again. The lights just didn't work. flash forward a semester, we should learn our lesson. The light boards turned on, and then we're doing measure for measure, how does that one start?

6

we were, Emily and I would come out for the first scene, I introduced this whole idea of I as the Duke was going to go on vacation and then leave the thing to her and to Angela. I would come out stage with my little telephone in my desk and, paperwork and all that. we came out on the stage and I was waiting for the lights to turn on. Lights aren't turned on. And Emily and I just improv'd the whole scene where we were like, the damn lights here and wherever. power outages. I gotta talk to somebody about the power outages. Yeah. The candles are,

5

Clearly out of stock again. I'm backstage. I'm getting ready. I'm preparing to be pious Isabella. I don't go into the fourth scene. Harrison, who's supposed to be on stage in the first scene, has run back because he thinks the problem is Emily's not on stage. He thinks we're waiting for actor T there, but it's dark. He can't see. So he comes back panicked. I'm like, I don't know where she is. You get back on stage. We're actually missing someone.

9

the front row of the audience for that one They just seem like they're having fun.

6

once we got over the panic and we were like, I guess we're hip popping this, it was a great thing to do with Emily. We have to talk.

2

and the reason why you heard this gasp from us all, and the reason why we lovingly referred to the play is either Macers and a Scottish play, is because there's a curse put on the name of the Scottish right. if you say it in the rehearsal space, something terrible is bound to happen during the performances there's a special way to break the curse by going outside and spinning around it's a wonderful tradition that we have and one of the many that we have not only in theater in general, but some particularly the NSR. Does somebody want to hit on some of the other traditions that

1

One of my favorite ones is I Give You My Best, which is, 15 minutes before house opens or before the start of the show, we all head backstage and there's this tiny corridor in Washington Hall, right behind the main stage and the lab. we all pack into this corridor cross our hands and say, I give you my best. Thank you. We all say, I give you my best, and it goes down the circle. then we do our hand squeeze, say a line from the show and turn out. that's one of those that is so special every night and it's so fun to explain to guest stars or people who have never done it before. We are Father Pete McCormick.

3

Yeah, Richard III had a

5

cameo role.

4

Absolutely.

6

star football quarterback.

2

Absolutely. one of the big visions of this Richard III show is we wanted it to be the biggest show that we'd done before. we coined the term, the highest production value, highest effort, highest energy show that NSR has ever done. And part of that is there's the character of henry the six who starts the show out by dying at richard's hand i thought i don't really want to give this role to one of our actors just go on stage and die and so i had the thought if this is going to be our biggest production we should have some guest stars so we decided that henry the six role would be played by a guest star each night. and one of the first night, opening night, we had Father Pete McCormick as our, Henry the Sixth. his theater debut, he did fantastic. as Dom said, the final closing night, we had, Riley Leonard, who is gonna be our, quarterback next year. It was such a fun opportunity to bring somebody new into the space, show them all of these traditions. We got a

5

Admitted students weekend. Admitted students weekend, a bunch of freshmen will be like, oh.

10

Those admitted students came up to me, because I work in the admissions office, I've heard Father Pete talk about the Shakespeare group and I was like,

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Come on, follow the Instagram, and we got a bunch of new followers like that were the incoming class.

8

Just being near Washington Hall around the time because I've gotten approached by various freshmen Just by being outside and having a giant backpack that no one should have on a normal day are you in Richard the third?

1

I've had people recognize me from shows and it's always oh you were in much ado and it's oh,

6

And in terms of traditions, I think that it's so core to the identity of NSR as the lab theater, and we haven't already talked about

7

that yet.

6

the lab theater in Washington Hall is basically up in the attic, of wash hall. You have to go up three, four flights of stairs, it's a super small black box space. You can fit about 70 to 80 people in there, depending on the size of your cast. The fire code limit of a hundred and, And it's such a small space, you can't really do a ton with lighting, you don't have a ton of lights, to lighting channels, At the dressing rooms are cramped and tiny and to get from one side of the stage to the other you have to shimmy behind the curtains, but as many challenges come with being in the lab, it's the perfect space for this client. I think for me, one of the things that I've always loved about doing shows in the lab, is the intimacy with the audience that you get when the nearest audience member is always three feet from you. the fact that I could be on stage giving a monologue or a soliloquy and look audience members in the eye and make connection with one person and, give a little smile when we were doing less labors, I could grab somebody out of the audience and make them dance with me. during, Hamlet over five, while, Polonius and Claudius are watching Hamlet give, to be or not to be, Ballard and I would sit in the audience and look over people's shoulders to watch Hamlet. it's the perfect space for what we do. And I love that.

5

And you think about how far you guys come from, we started talking about, Caesar, and we mentioned teaming. That would have been freshman year for some of you because of COVID restrictions, we couldn't have an audience in that space. We had to be six feet apart. I was just looking back on my Instagram. It was like the saddest cat's picture you've ever seen. We're all like, standing six feet apart. Someone took her from like the balcony, all the masks, performing masks. And so NSR was the only club on campus to produce any kind of show that semester, fall of 2020. I think that spirit has totally guided and grown since, yeah, since you guys have, coming through it and graduating and it's it's a really special fire that keeps burning let's go around quickly and we can talk about Maybe, biggest takeaway is, like, how did NSR, embolden your college experience to make it a lesson that you've learned? And then, also, if you would like to share, we can go around and talk about where you're headed next? what are you taking, what are you taking with you on the next, journey? anyone can start,

2

Yeah, I can go ahead and start us off. biggest takeaway for me is how important the balance, between work and art is in your life. you have to have some sort of outlet where you can be creative. and that will only strengthen those skills and won't take away. you said post grad plans as well. in two weeks, I'll commission as a cyber warfare officer in the army. I'll be working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, on counter UAV technologies.

6

for me, I think one of the big takeaway is it just affects the NSRs out of my life for the last four years is the experience about getting to be with people where I fit in. I feel like we're all very strange people. and, MSR is a place where you can be yourself. and be unapologetically yourself. for the very first time in my life, after having gone to a very small school with a graduating class of 20, living in a very tiny town in southeastern Washington state, I had never really met anybody Enjoy the things that I enjoy who thought like me, who I really enjoyed being around it in a certain way. And I came to Notre Dame and I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna make any friends. NSR was this place where I could really blossom as a person because I knew that these are the people who are like me. And I think that was the biggest takeaway for me. this summer, I'll be going to, Prague with a couple of, our NSR, folks to do the, Prague Summer Shakespeare Enhancement Program at the Prague, Shakespeare Festival. then, coming back to Notre Dame to do the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival in the late summer. And then, I'll be headed out to Baltimore to do, semiconductor manufacturing.

13

I think one of the biggest takeaways for the club for me personally and also just one of the things I'm most grateful for is that NSR represents unconditional inclusion. In that sense, a lot of it is very explicit. when I did Caesar, I didn't like Shakespeare at all. I read the Scottish play in high school and I went, this sucks. I don't like this. and then I saw Caesar and I remember watching a movie and I was like, Caesar was cool. I guess Romans, I auditioned for it. I was like, this is actually cool. So I kept doing it. there was one point, right before the auditions for Taming of the Shrew, Christina sent me a message, Hey John, are you going to audition for this? Are you coming to dinner tonight? I want you to audition for this next show. for about five minutes, I tried to remember who Christina was. I didn't know this person. I was like, why does this person know me? What did I do? And then for the other five minutes, I was really taught. And honestly, at that point, I think I knew it was like, if people in NSR actually want me here enough to send me a group me message, which only gets to you about 25 percent of

7

the

13

But if there is a club that is based on a culture of reaching out to people I think that's such a good boon to have not only as a club, but for myself, throughout my life, I want to be able to, find people just by reaching out to them and getting over that barrier and just saying, Hey, do you want to come to dinner with me? do you want to spend time together? Because that's how you make lifelong friends. And that's how I joined NSR. I don't think I would be in NSR if it weren't for that message. And as far as what I'm doing beyond school, I'll be doing the Prague Shakespeare Intensive with Dominic and Natalie and Hannah. And I will be going to Dublin for grad school. I'll be studying structural engineering at UCD.

6

I had a similar experience with Christina. Did you really? I bumped into her in the dining hall and she goes, Oh, Dominic, hi. And I was like, I have no idea.

4

We knew eventually. But I was in Rome. She was like, I know you. I was like, I don't know you.

6

Theater oriented, that's enough.

5

more takeaways, more life. Life plan.

1

I

5

think

1

for me, one of the most incredible experiences of my life, is moving an NSR from that freshman coming in during Covid, during taming for me. What was your first show? Taming. Taming. Yeah. which was like Caesar on wash all main stage, and just so different freshman year. It is so hard to impart what that experience is like coming in during Covid, not knowing anybody. it was a lonesome experience, and then I found NSR in the spring, and it really changed my full college experience, to move from being the person who is reached out to, texted through GroupMe, to, an upperclassman sort of mentor role, and being like, we are the culture that this club is now. we determine whether or not we reach out, because we're the ones who have to do it. And universally, I think all of us said, okay, that's who we are. it's something that I've seen from, folks who have joined within the past few years. It's something I've seen from people who have been here the whole time. the club is so different now from when I joined, and I think it's a really positive change. it's not just how we think about ourselves as a community or theater troupe. it's about how we carry ourselves as members of NSR. I think there's a lot of pride here. And it's something we're eager to share, especially with incoming freshmen and underclassmen. as for next year's plans, they're still a little bit up in the air, but I'm so excited about Prague. I feel NSR has really prepared us for Prague, we've been mentioning Prague,

5

why are we going to Prague? Shakespeare in Our Name, we do our summer festival every year, and we're also the home base for Actors from the London Stage. I currently work there now, all because of NSR, I've been doing Shakespeare in Our Name, and I'll continue to do that. we have received funding to bring students, not just from NSR, but, some nerding students to the Prague Shakespeare Company Summer Intensive this year. And you guys will get, an amazing experience to learn. And then I know Dominic and some other folks will be coming back to act in our summer show as you like it. So it's a really great, Relationship that Shakespeare at Array and the Organization has with, this totally self sufficient, student run, group.

3

I'm really excited for you all.

13

And I think, at least for myself, this is an opportunity I wouldn't have either known about or auditioned for without the support and know how. And just everything else given to me by NSR.

3

And our club advisor.

13

called her dad. That was the only thing. I got that text. I was like, all right, man. But NSR really was a pipeline to this amazing once in a lifetime opportunity. And I'm grateful for that beyond even the community and

5

Another big shout out to Scott Jackson, who has been the club's advisor and, is the executive artistic director of Shakespeare in Her Name. And has just been such a huge advocate and lover of this club I know personally, my involvement in NSR, how much I leaned on you while I was directing and, how much my, Opportunities were granted to me because that relationship started there. So

6

Talking about scott He comes in and gives us mentorship we always have scott come and see such a welcome one of the really wonderful things in especially in the last like year or two Just having scott come in and look at just like the problem scenes, a couple weeks before tech week, and saying how can we fix this? This just isn't working we always get something good from Scott. You always have a good idea. and then of course having Scott come in and do workshops for us and then rehearse and all sorts of other things. And just knowing that he's there and able to help us out when we need it is, I think it's backstage.

11

I think the other important thing that Scott's done for the co op is, introducing us to DePaul cab. and the ability to perform their key.

5

for those who don't know, the DePaul Academy is a secure residential facility housed in the St. Joseph County Juvenile Justice Center, we perform here at Notre Dame, and we do bring our performances to those high school age students, from time to time we brought Scottish play, Love's Labours, Love's, even before that, Romeo and Juliet, that was my first show being there. And, yeah, now, we're going back and forth, but very briefly, can we speak to, what it's like performing for that audience? for people who have never really seen Shakespeare perform?

2

They are an incredible audience. Best audience I've ever had. One of my favorite ideas, there's a moment in Love's Labour's Lost where the men are all pretending to be Russians. so they can trick the women, And what we did was, the Rasputin just dance scene. And the music starts in a very specific moment. but because we're performing at DePaul, which isn't your typical stage setup, it's done in a classroom, this open area. we did our own music and tech thing and ended up accidentally starting the song from the very beginning. So we had the entire extra minute of unchoreographed dancing. and the, the four of us, John, myself, Ryan, Manti, and Andrew Acidiacono. are just out there just dancing and improvising and they were loving it. They started chanting and knew something wasn't quite right and had the

6

One of my favorite stories about DePaul, and just in general NSR stories, is when we were doing Mackers. And, there's that final fight scene between, Macbeth and Macduff and, Ballard had choreographed this insane fight between Lulu and Harrison. And it was really heavy duty fighting. Lulu would, choke Harrison out, And those guys LOVED that final fight scene. they were, standing up, cheering, GET HIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! it was such a treat to see people so Unapologetically involved in enjoying a performance because it feels like we're trained to sit quietly with your hands on your lap and watch carefully and quietly at the end you're allowed to clap a little bit and then go home there's this divide between the audience and the actors Getting to perform at DePaul is this just unadulterated experience of audience and an actor getting to connect. I really love that.

11

it was wonderful because at the end of that performance we got to sit down in small groups with the kids and just talk about the show and what they liked I think that's one of the real gifts of being able to perform at DePaul and this community as Natalie stated so eloquently, we are really a family here, and there is this, level of responsibility, we feel to the underclassmen, to each other, to build a community of care, and then to be able to go to a place like DePaul and share that, love, and to also receive, such great love and joy and their enthusiasm. In return, that's my big takeaway, I think, is that you have this excellent synergy that's created, right? and it's about more than ourselves at Notre Dame, how we can make Shakespeare alive to the next generation. as well.

3

Does anyone have any more takeaways for where you're headed next?

5

I just want to say at NSR, no matter like I was here before COVID during and after, everyone's always had this unspoken mentality, be boldly and be

10

bolder yourself. Like you guys watch me stand on a chair and scream at people, berate each other, but also be behind. The curtain and do all the tech stuff and it did not matter where you come from, who you are, it's just be yourself there. You don't have any dignity to lose because you can go crazy and do silly things and wear goofy hats and dance around like a goober or have a really serious scene, you love you and it's just okay to be you.

5

Yeah,

9

I guess being a part of this group has taught me you just need to go for it sometimes. I. Wanted to do theater the entire time I was in high school. Too scared to ever audition. Never actually did it. somehow I ended up AD ing for Laverus, LaPanna, which was so much fun. And then after that I was like, darn, I can't not do this next semester. I gotta audition now. I was lucky enough to get to do that. But, you guys just cultivate this environment, which we're just, really encouraged to, follow our passions and, Be really authentic.

8

I think, what NSR has truly shown me in a way that no other club has is that, our love for each other and our passion for the work and our love for the art is not a burden, it's a gift. It's truly just something that we get to do. we are from a variety of different disciplines and are doing a variety of different things, but, this is, an experience that's changed all of us for the better.

5

Yeah. I wonder how. How can, how can people support NSR going forward? Where do we follow you guys? What's coming up next? When is ND Day next? how much money can they give?

7

I'd love to

8

buy Jake Rush.

12

we have an Instagram. NSR, if you type it in, it should pop up.

5

Shakespeare? So it's actually, I think it's NSR

12

Shakespeare.

5

Yeah, it's

12

NSR and then Shakespeare. I should know this, I run the Instagram. not anymore, but, we have a new board. you can follow us on that. It is pretty active. You can always DM us. You can always email us. we will answer the emails and we will answer dms as well. SR

6

Nss co@indeed.edu.

12

Yeah. And that's the email.

1

We have an archive of our shows from the past couple years on YouTube. So if you really wanna watch Richard ii. Hey, care.

2

And shout out to Hank McNeil behind the camera right now. Got a 4k pro shot of our Richard III performance.

6

the quality of some of our other NSR recordings is questionable.

7

With a camcorder,

6

if you really want to see a quality recording of an NSR show, go watch Richard III. it was very well done

12

can also just type us in on Google and a lot of stuff will pop up.

6

see our website, there's a full archive and every show NSR has done, I believe, on the website. we've done a pretty good job of maintaining that. You can go in, see the program, the observer review, all the silly bios. You'll see the observer review. you'll see the posters. we try to keep those pretty updated. Great.

3

Very interesting. what's next year looking like? Do we know? Follow the NSR Instagram. You'll find out.

1

do you want to talk about it? Sure.

10

Because you're on the boards. Yeah, I'm here for another year. I'm here for a master. So next year we are doing in the fall a production of Caesar and then our spring show is King Lear. That was a show that got canned during COVID, so I'm excited to see that come back.

5

thank you guys so much for your time. It's really special for me being able to chat with you guys and my friends and, see how the club has grown and that I continue to watch it grow over, my time here now. thank you so much.

2

Thank you Kate.