Emerjade Simms is a 4th year BFA Acting student at the School of Dramatic Art, and is well-known around campus for being loud and proud, friendly and deadly. I’ve gotten to know her over the past few years as a classmate, as a student, and as a friend. Now that she is completing her “thesis” for the program, I thought I’d catch up with her and let you collegiettes know how you can catch her last performance before she graduates.
Hi Emerjade! Why don’t you start by introducing yourself to our collegiettes?
I’m Emerjade Simms. I’m a fourth year in the BFA Acting program, which means I get to GRADUATE in a few weeks! I’m from Toronto originally. Windsor caught me by surprise by being amazing and just by being so open. And the humans that they send out into the world to recruit people here are incredible, and the space is so warm and so inviting.
For our readers who don’t understand what Character Study is, could you explain that?
Character Study is a class about trying to write theatre. We’re given a preliminary assignment to get us into the groove of writing, and that’s a dramatic monologue that can be about anything we want. Then we’re required to do an interview with a subject for research for our piece. Character Study is pretty much a research project that we do through the medium of a script. From the interview, we write a piece using parts of what we learned, but the piece can be about anything we want, which is really cool. It gives you a lot of freedom, but in that freedom you have to set limitations for yourself.
So it’s kind of like your thesis.
Yeah! And you have to defend it. And you have to be on stage doing this play you wrote yourself for 20 minutes.
Tell us a little bit about the character you wrote.
My character is a black woman who is a gamer, and she is 22 and lives in this apartment. She’s just finished school. She’s in an interesting spot in her life. My piece is called “Reset Start,” and it’s an analysis of a relationship through the lens of race, the migraines she gets, and her boyfriend being a white man and how all of these things impact her relationship.
How has the process been?
Surprisingly, I have been super chill and for the most part calm and collected, but only after the second week. The first week I was freaking out because I had so many ideas, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do or how to settle on anything, so I had a meeting with Paula [Professor Paula Wing] — Paula Wing the Wizard — and she told me in not so many words that all of my ideas are connected. So once she said that, I saw it all, and immediately my piece began forming in my mind. It was just about putting it into paper in a succinct way and making it work in a 20 minute show. So after doing my first draft, and going through the challenge of writing a first draft of a script, it was awesome. I’m taking this on as a challenge, and not as a stress in my life.
I guess the “limiting” part or the challenging part is that you guys can do literally anything you want.
Yeah, we’ve had characters from the past, characters from the future, characters who exist outside of time and space, real people, fictional characters… one of my favourites was a couple of years ago when someone did Olive Oyl! There’s comedic pieces and dramatic pieces… there’s something for everyone.
So tell us a little bit about your professor.
My one true love? Paula Wing is the epitome of what it is to love art. She… oh my god… what can I say? She’s so wonderful, supporting, giving, and smart. She’s such an incredible individual to have in your corner. Not even just when we’re writing and working on this piece, but as a human she’s there for you. Just to know her is such an honour.
She sounds amazing, and students seem to love her.
She really is.
Thanks for your time, Jade!
No problem!
You can catch the Character Study performances Thursday, April 14th and Friday, April 15th from 1pm-6pm in the Jackman Dramatic Art Centre on campus. Performances start every 20 minutes, and admission is free!
Photo by Callum Gunn.