Shakespeare’s fair Rosaline comes to Tucson this Sunday when the Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of “”Love’s Labour’s Lost”” puts a modern spin on the classic romantic comedy. The Arizona Daily Wildcat sat down with Tamika Lawrence, the musical theatre junior who plays Rosaline, to discuss how she’s preparing to bring the bard’s work to life.
What was your reaction when you found out you’d be doing a Shakespeare play?
When I got it, I was very shocked and very excited. Someone actually told me I got it, because I didn’t get to see the callboard yet. All of the sudden, there was this angst and fear because I’ve never done Shakespeare before. It was kind of intimidating. Shakespeare’s works are beautiful, but it’s like a puzzle because he’s using all these words that are so archaic.
You said Shakespeare is like a puzzle. How’d you go about understanding what was being said?
I first read the play just for what it is. Then I looked more into my (character’s) interactions, which are things that might be important to the scenes I’m in. I broke it down by looking up in a Shakespeare Lexicon for what would this word mean to Shakespeare back then. . . . It’s cool how things come together. If you can figure out one word or one phrase then you don’t need to look it up again. It’s like you’re figuring out this new language, which is pretty cool. To me, it’s like doing a Sudoku puzzle. Once you get into it and you figure out the way things work, then it’s like ‘Okay, I can figure this out.’
Were you apprehensive about the show’s modern approach?
I think it’s actually very clever. I know a lot of directors have tried to do it before and I think it just reinforces the idea that Shakespeare is so timeless. … Our theme of putting it in a Catholic school is a dressing for it, but I mean, we could do Shakespeare on the moon with astronauts and you would still be able to relate because the play’s about eight kids who fall in love. Even though the language is different, it’s still something that we all go through. You know, what’s it like to fall in love for the first time? What it’s like to have your heart broken or have crazy teachers? I think the modern thing totally goes.
