This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Skidmore chapter.
Name: Rigel Harris
Class Year: 2016
Her Campus: How did you get involved in theater?
Rigel Harris: Most of my pre-pube years were spent playing basketball and soccer, but during my freshman year of high school my best friend convinced me to audition for an after school theater program. When we were both accepted I started working a lot in stage management and wardrobe capacities, and eventually quit sports when I found that there wasn’t a lot of time left in my days for my career as a benchwarmer. Over the course of a few years I was lucky enough to be able to be backstage during 30 and 40 show runs of professional productions of shows like Hamlet, The Elephant Man, and The Price, and loved the work. Since arriving at Skidmore I’ve become a lot more involved in the performance side of theater and plan to continue to do so!
Her Campus: What is your part in the production and tell us a little bit about it.
Rigel Harris: I’m playing Lady Macbeth in the theater department’s production of Macbeth this semester! When three witches prophesy that Macbeth, my hubs, will be King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth acts as a catalyst to set the prophecy in motion and to become Queen.
Her Campus: What is the most exciting part of this production?
Rigel Harris: The words. No other playwright is capable of making human emotion, instinct, and desire palpable for both actors and audience. Doug Seldin and Madeleine Emerick’s fights are pretty great too.
Her Campus: What is the biggest challenge you have in your role with Macbeth?
Rigel Harris: Probably just staying present in each moment on stage. Shakespeare is the master of marrying impulsive emotion with text, and it’s easy for me to get wrapped up in enjoying the words rather than responding to the other actors and stimuli.
Her Campus: What is your favorite part of being in a production like Macbeth?
Rigel Harris: Macbeth is overflowing with humanity’s most desperate emotions and needs (revenge, greed, love), and Shakespeare heightens those things better than any other playwright. The words have a way of physicalizing themselves in your mouth and body, and spending time figuring all of that out has been wonderful. In addition, we have a wonderful cast, crew, and production team. There are a lot of good people in the room.