This review was written by a TeenTix KC teen who is learning about arts journalism through the Press Corps, which provides teens with training and tools to respond to their arts experiences. TeenTix KC seeks to engage teens in the arts and amplify their voices. This may be the first time this teen has publicly expressed their opinion about an arts experience. Thank you for reading and supporting this teen’s development as an arts journalist.
I got the chance to interview Angie Janas, who is one of the actors in the traveling side-by-side performances of The Acting Company’s Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She plays Ms. Havisham and Mrs. Joe (Great Expectations) and then Oberon and Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). These are very different shows as Great Expectations is set in history and A Midsummer Night’s Dream is much more mystical.
When asked what her favorite part of the shows was, Janas said, “For Great Expectations, it would have to be Ms. Havisham, because it was a role that I was really excited to play. Because it’s a world premiere, no one’s done it before, so it was an opportunity for me to really create the character. Then, to also have nights where I get to go to Fairyland and be Oberon, just to have a really different experience night to night. This is a pretty unique experience for an actor. Usually, you’re just doing one thing, and that’s kind of all you do, so the opportunity to get to do a lot of different things and get to do it all over the country was really exciting to me.”
This opportunity is very different and challenging, but Janas’ main concern is the travel. “I mean, we travel primarily by bus, so it means there are some challenges. Yesterday we had a 6-hour drive. When we have longer drives, that’s harder. Also, sometimes eating is hard, because there are lots of fast-food options, but sometimes you just want a salad. But it’s also a really fun challenge to get to do the shows in lots of different theaters. The other day, we did a show in a 2,000-seat theater.”
When asked about the biggest challenge of portraying the characters and how she prepared for the role, Janas said, “The challenges are different between the two shows. In Great Expectations, the challenge is that the two characters have different accents, and are very different, class-wise. Ms. Havisham is a very upper-class character, and Mrs. Joe has a Cockney accent. There are even some scenes where they have back-to-back lines. So it’s also about figuring out how to, like, very quickly go and be a whole different person. In Midsummer, the challenge is a little different. I’m playing Oberon, which typically is seen as a male-identifying character. I’ve also played Titania, which is the counterpart to Oberon. So the challenge of approaching a character that I never really saw myself in, and never really thought I would ever play, and coming to that, going like, oh, I know the other side of that character, I sort of know the other side of that coin, how do I bring that in? And I think, actually, that was really helpful preparation for Midsummer was to know Titania, and so going okay, how do I think this character is different from that character? That was a really great way for me to get into it.”
I asked Janas how she got into theater in the first place and she replied, “There’s the boring answer, which is, I wasn’t very good at sports, and so I did dance, and I started realizing I was getting put in the front and dancing a lot, and not because I was as good as the other dancers, I just made a lot of facial expressions. So I started realizing, I guess I’m kind of good at this performing thing.
But I think the deeper answer is that, I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, and I was really interested in meeting people outside of my own experience and living outside of that experience as well, and so I think I became really drawn to playing characters really far outside of myself and I just felt like that was sort of my way of connecting with people, and I’ve always felt a little bit like a Frankenstein, like… I’m really good at doing funny voices and things like that. But ultimately, it was really exciting to work with people and meet people. That’s one of the things I love about tour, is connecting with people all over the country that I would never have met or worked with this group of actors if not for this experience. So I think, just connecting with a larger world and group of people is really exciting to me as an actor.”
One of my final questions was if Janas could give us a hint about the upcoming plays and she said, “I think the thing that I’m excited about for everyone to see is that in our production, there are some things that are gonna feel different, that are not conventional, a oh, that’s not how I necessarily thought of that kind of moment. Particularly, the relationship between Puck and Oberon, what we’ve created is pretty different than what I’ve ever seen in a production, and so that’s my favorite part about the show, is getting to do those scenes. I also just, like, love the play within a play at the end, and it genuinely makes me laugh every time, and so I’m excited for you to get to see that.”
It was an incredible experience to interview a professional actor and the shows, Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, were absolutely amazing. I was very impressed with the actor’s ability to adapt. I was able to see these shows with TeenTix KC and I was pleased with how close the seats were. We were able to see details of the set which was beautiful. Thank you TeenTix KC and thank you Angie Janas!
Reviewed by TeenTix KC Press Corps member Brighton Brame
TeenTix KC is a KC Studio initiative building a brighter future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons and leaders. Any 13-19 year-old can become a TeenTix KC member by downloading a free pass which enables them to buy $5 tickets to participating arts venues across metro KC. Teens are encouraged to become critics and influencers by writing reviews and creating reels about the arts they experience using their TeenTix KC passes.
