Steven and Cara are two of the four-person cast of How Exile Melts, a production put on by the McGill English Department’s Drama and Theatre Program. Her Campus McGill had the chance to learn more about these two very talented students who had the audience both laughing and crying at the show’s opening weekend. There is still time to see them on stage; the play is running November 27th until the 29th.
Year: 4.5
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Major & Minor: English (Drama & Theatre) and Political Science
Past Productions: The Tempest as Sebastian and Three Penny Opera as Crook Finger Jake.
Katrina Kairys for Her Campus McGill (HC): How does this play differ from past productions you have acted in?
Steven Koutsomitopoulos (SK): Last fall I acted in The Tempest, which is Shakespeare, and in the winter I acted in Three Penny Opera, which is very theatrical and has elements of a musical. This is the first play that I have ever been in that is a drama. It is also contemporary, which is worlds apart from anything that I have done before.
HC: Glenn is a fantastically humorous character. How did you get into his persona? Did you have anyone in particular in mind that you tried to emulate?
SK: No, I did not have anyone in mind. I started with a blank slate, and slowly began to work on the movement, gestures, and voice; I had a lot of help from our Director, Professor Patrick Neilson who streamlined the character towards his vision. Besides that, I filled the character with as much research as I could, so that he could feel authentic come show night.
HC: What was the most challenging scene to for you to act in?
SK: The opening set of scenes, when Glenn arrives home for the first time, heads upstairs to drop off his things, comes back down, goes to see his ailing father for the first time in years, and then walks into the kitchen to find Daniel who has just arrived – these were all scenes that had to be practiced the most, because there were constantly new pieces of information being introduced, which required me to constantly have to shift my attention.
Year: U3
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Major & Minor: Double major in English Literature and Theatre Studies and minor in Philosophy
Past Productions: What the Butler Saw at Players’ Theatre, Threepenny Opera at Moyse Hall, The Drowsy Chaperone at Moyse Hall (with AUTS), Based on a True Story at TNC, and I’ll be in the McGill English Department’s production of Blue Planet in the next semester. Most of my work with theatre though comes through my work on the Players’ Theatre Executive. I am the current Executive Director of the theatre, last year I was the Production Manager, and the year prior I was the MDF Coordinator.
Her Campus McGill (HC): How does How Exile Melts differ from past productions you have acted in?
Cara Krisman (CK): This play is definitely the most contemporary one I’ve acted in. It was only written a few years ago, and by Dane Stewart, who was a student here at the time, so it really touches on salient issues of this time period and our generation. It’s definitely the only play I’ve been in that deals with the matters of sexuality, gender, and identity as openly and as honestly as this one does, which is strange considering it’s such a major conversation in our world. Also, because it’s such a new play, it really pulls some great modern comedic references, which I love.
HC: What was it like working with a cast of only four people? Did you all get along at first?
CK: Oh, we always got along, but working with a cast of four is definitely a much different vibe. Things like warming up at the beginning of rehearsal, and energy on stage, turned into more of an exercise in connecting with one another. We’re acting a family, so it’s very important that we’re comfortable around each other. We needed to find our roles in relation to one another, just like a family, and this really helped our interaction on stage.
HC: The arguments between the siblings are some of the best scenes. What is it like trying to rehearse such a heated argument?
CK: The argument scenes are some of my favourite ones. I love the place we all get to when everything is so heated and passionate – each characters’ weaknesses come out and it’s just so interesting to witness. Rehearsing it was definitely draining. We all get very involved, so after each time we run those scenes, there’s always a few moments of silence where it seems like everyone is just decompressing.
HC: What was your favourite scene to act in? Why?
CK: The fighting scenes used to be my favourite, but now, I would have to say my favourite scenes are the first ones where everyone is coming together, and no matter how weird it is that the family is all back together, there’s an air of happiness and possibility. I just love that in those scenes we’re still at a point where Julia laughs out of joy instead of as a weapon.
Photos taken by Owen Egan and provided by the production publicity manager.