“We are not two guys mocking femininity, we are playing them as real, honest women,” said Adam Calcagno in his response to the difficult obstacle of playing 10 different characters, which include female roles, in the upcoming production, A Tuna Christmas. “To push this, our warm-ups consist of switching on a dime between our characters when their name is called.”
The Department of Theatre & Dance at Winona State University (WSU) will present “A Tuna Christmas” by Jason Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, through Sunday, Nov. 22, in the Performing Arts Center Black Box Theatre.
The production showcases merely two actors, Brad Krieger and Adam Calcagno, who each portray 10 different characters in the production.
The production focuses on a secretive individual that is sabotaging the annual Christmas Yard Display Contest in Tuna, Texas, by destroying contestants’ entries.
Brad Krieger, one of the two actors in A Tuna Christmas, explains his biggest challenge playing 10 different roles, “For me, personally, the biggest challenge with multiple characters is keeping all of their personalities consistent and different from each other. You have to make each character as real as possible no matter how long they are on stage. Especially for a show like this, you can make the character a little goofy, but that character has to still be very real. The goofiness should come from the situation they are in and their reaction to it.”
Break a leg, Brad!
Adam Calcagno states, “The biggest challenge is to make each character unique and immediately identifiable by the audience, not just by a costume change. Though a different costume helps, if each character sounds, walks, or poses the same way(s), the play becomes dull and loses the sole reason to put it on. To push this, our warm-ups consist of switching on a dime between our characters when their name is called and giving their different lines/walks in rapid succession. Different to myself and Brad’s acting background is playing women. The challenge that comes with this is, obviously, we’re both guys. However just like every character, we must become grounded in their reality, meaning these women are not stereotypes. Their voices aren’t Brad and I doing our best falsetto, their actions are not coming from two guys mocking femininity; we are playing them as real, honest women.”
Way to go, Adam! Break a leg!
The show is directed by Heather Williams-Williams.
Tickets are available online for $12 for the public and $6 for students.
You can learn more about the Theatre & Dance Department (THAD) by visiting their website here!
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THAD is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).