To be, or not to be,
that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to
suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms
against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them:
Everyone knows what it is to love and
not get what , you know, not have that love reciprocated.
There are, you know,
great plots. There are wonderful
characters. There is incredible language. There are issues. There are
themes that are controversial, that were
controversial then, that are controversial now.
It's about the human condition.
It just makes me feel like I can
understand how other people feel better.
He was just ridiculous and it gave me a
chance to be ridiculous.
It gives you this unique feeling that
surpasses all feelings.
Poetry and fantasy and romance
and laughter and tragedy all in one.
Yeah... it's good.
Because he wrote to the core of who we
are, as long as that core doesn't change,
he's going to continue to be relevant.
...to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep,
to say we end 
The heartache, and the thousand
natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to?
'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to dream;
aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of , death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give us pause.
At this age everyone's like
figuring out who they are, and I'd really
like to find out my Shakespeare words, in
my young life, if you know what I mean...
I work in the business world and really
having acting skills having an
appreciation for drama...
for storytelling, for expression and
communication has been the most
important skill that I utilize
professionally in life.
Empathy is a huge thing that I have
taken away from the Shakespeare text.
I think what I got from Brutus was the
ability to dream big. And I sometimes
tend to be small in my dreams, or think
this is as far as I can go
and I think just playing Brutus really
helped me imagine that I could do so
much more with my life.
When I'm working
with people, whether it's creating
theater, in my family, or whatever
personal relations I have I try and
remember that
just like in Shakespeare that everyone
has a reason for what they're doing and
a point of view that's important and needs
to be listened to.
If I didn't do the program, I don't know
where I would be, to be honest right now.
That a lot of what attracts me to doing
this work is that we can do such a
variety of things,
it's a wonderful thing.
This company's commitment to
including everyone as an audience member,
as an actor, as a designer, as a director,
is really powerful.
I remember walking by the van that said
San Francisco Shakespeare Festival on it
and saying to a friend of mine "I'm going to work for this company one day."
I was 15 or 14 years old and so
when I got hired and I was 27 or
whenever, it was very exciting for me.
I don't really mind what it is that
gets people going about Shakespeare, if
it's the Animaniacs or Gnomeo and Juliet
or West Side Story or whatever it is it
doesn't matter it's all part of experiencing Shakespeare.
Creating and experiencing art and
theater together really does make an
impact and makes the world a better
place.
