Let me start off by saying this one is very special to me.  Every show and role is different.  Naturally each one will require different amounts of you.  The preparation is different for each.

This one is extremely personal to me, because it has required all of me.  Every last bit.  Since starting rehearsals on January third, I have been in hibernation mode.

I knew this one would be big…whatever that meant.  I knew it would take my time, my emotions, my brain space…and then some.  I was right.

To approach this simply as an actor was hard.  First of all, the memorization was huge.  The dialect I had to learn was tricky.  I had to learn and practice a different type of dance.  I had my first fight choreography.  It was a play of firsts.  The structure of the play was different, as in the length of the scenes.  As actors we’re hoping for every experience.  We want to check it all off our performing to do list.  I got to cross off a bunch with this one.

I am an actress.  I’m not a politician, I’m not a scholar, and the subject matter of this piece was very intimidating in the beginning! I was not born when the Iranian Hostage Crisis happened.  There was a lot I needed to learn.  I researched what I needed to help give me a better understanding.  Then it was time to act what was on the page.

What I love about the play, what let me know I could handle this piece were the relationships of the female characters.  So different in their beliefs yet so similar in their passion.  I loved the way both of my characters Shirin and her daugher Azadeh are trying to teach.  How noble they are.  How strong their sense of pride and family are.

As it turns out, developing these women came easier than I originally thought.  It’s daunting in the beginning to know you’re going to have to develop two crucial characters.  But they found me.

I also love words.  Poetry.  The lines I get to speak in this play are simply stunning.  “We are raisins, pomegranates and rose petals.”  Who gets to say lines like that? Who gets to play female roles like this?

I have been aware through the process and now through the first week of performances that this one is a rare one.  I’m savoring every minute knowing that we are a part of something truly special.  This is one of those plays that actors live for.  I feel truly lucky.  Grateful.

What I want most is just for people to see it.  To experience this and to learn from it.

THE PERSIAN QUARTER plays February 2-27, 2011.  Tickets available onlineor by calling the Box Office: 801.363.7522.