Shakespeare’s text could be difficult to understand for someone unfamiliar with his terminology. For Danih-Lael Alexandre and Ilana Leshowitz, who performed “The Tempest” at Rowan University, it became easier to interpret his work.
“Not only is it very dense, it has a lot of consonants and stuff to stumble through. It’s not understood easily by random, normal people,” Alexandre said. “In order to combat that, I would rap Shakespeare’s sonnets over Wu-Tang Clan’s beats just to get my flow into Shakespeare.”
Leshowitz said that understanding Shakespeare’s language was challenging at first but when she delved deeper into the script and started practicing her lines she began to understand it better.
Alexandre and Leshowitz take inspiration from anything they find. It could be someone telling a story a certain way, or how their peers would perform a certain role, that helps them improve their skills.
“This is a cheesy answer, but I tend to take inspiration from my peers and my friends, the people in the scenes with me. In the show, my three main scene partners were my friend Jack, Don, and then Danih, and all three of them were really great at making choices that inspired me to make my own choices. Having people like that to play off of just makes everything so much better. It inspires me to make my work more dynamic,” Leshowitz said.
Managing all the responsibilities of being an actor along with being the director of recruitment of Poetic Justice, and making music while also being a double major in political science and theater could be detrimental to another person’s mental health, not Alexandre though.
“At times it can feel like a burden, but a lot of the time, it’s a blessing, because I am able to do everything I ever wanted with my days. I like to say that ‘I’m beaten not defeated’,” Alexandre said. “I think the best way to combat burnout is just having fun. There is really no way to avoid burnout. You can try to fix your schedule more if you are doing a lot but I think it is going to catch up to you. The way to fight stress is to find time to relax and have fun.”
For Leshowitz, handling the hectic schedule of “The Tempest” was a lot because of the long practices, whether it was with the main stage or directing scenes. What helps her manage this schedule is the fact that she likes theater so much.
Leshowitz had to share some advice, such as staying humble but not doubting your talent.
“Coming into a new place it’s like, ‘Oh, this isn’t my high school.’ In high school, you’re the big fish in the little pond and then you come to college, it’s like you are the little fish in the big pond. It’s easy to get discouraged by that. It’s easy to think, ‘All these seniors and all these other freshmen are better than me.’ It’s easy to compare yourself to others,” Leshowitz said. “And once you stop comparing yourself to others, and you start taking inspiration from others. If you really just appreciate your friend’s talent, take inspiration from that, and you put that into your work. You will really go far.”
Alexandre also said that you should fear regret more than failure.
“I would say to fear regret more than failure. I try to live with no regrets,” Alexandre said. “Failure is like a sweet breath. You gotta wait. You can lose your balance. The only way to fail is to never begin.”
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