This article 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 Amari Lewis, who is performing in KC Rep’s production of John Proctor is the Villain. Lewis plays Nell, one of the five girls in a high school in a small southern town at the center of the play. These girls decide to form a feminist club after deciding that The Crucible is rather sexist.
When I spoke to Lewis, I hadn’t yet seen the show, so I asked for her opinion of the play. “There’s some twists and turns, so I can’t give away too much,” she told me. “I would say if you love a story about girlhood, it can get a little intense, a little chaotic, a little scary even maybe, It’s very much like a suspense, almost thriller type. I love it. I would say it’s kind of a hocus pocus vibe. It’s very witchy, but like something you see with your best friends.”
I asked her how she felt about her character and she shared, “She reminds me of myself in high school and like all the insecurities I had of being like the weird girl and liking things that not everybody likes. We’re very similar in that way. We also have similar styles. When they showed me her costume, it reminded me of stuff like I actually wore in 2018 because I was 16 in 2018, and she’s 16 in 2018. Just two girls, two kinds of Midwestern, Southern girls trying to figure things out.”
KC Rep is a big part of the theater landscape in the KC area and Lewis has played many crucial parts in several of their shows. I asked her how she feels about the community and the space there at the Rep and she said “Oh, yeah, I love working at the Rep. It’s honestly probably like in my top three places to work because it’s a really sweet and supportive community. Yeah I love it there.”
I am really excited to see this show because it’s always so much more fun to see a show when the actors like and relate to their character. When asked about her favorite type of role to play, Lewis says, “Ooh, my favorite type of character to play, honestly, is like Nell. She’s very funny. I like when I can just be crazy and wild on stage and ridiculous but have a little bit of depth to make them a real person because I feel like those crazy, funny, chaotic people do exist, and we don’t get to see them so often if everybody’s also serious. I like to play unserious people. I love that.”
I asked her what her favorite part of this show is and she said “Honestly, my cast. Just because we created this little family, and I feel like they’re my people. Like, we just click. It makes our chemistry on stage like electricity, almost for us to get along so well and just like by chance. We’re having so much fun.”
And to wrap it up I had to ask a very cliche but necessary question: When did you decide to start acting? “I went to opera camp and I just fell in love with all things like theater and art and creating,” says Lewis. “It came really naturally to me.”
This was such a cool experience to interview a professional actor and ask her how she feels about her show! You should go to see John Proctor is the Villain at KC Rep as it is running through October 25. You can use your Teen Tix KC pass to get up to two tickets for only $5 each!
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.
