Marina Deyoe - Pedraza - Something wicked

I found out about Hofstra, I was just doing kinda like a general University drama department search and it was one of the ones that like came up and so I just, I applied and I really was interested in the program because it didn't force you to audition for your BFA initially which most universities do so it gave me a year to kind of like, get here, get settled, figure out if theater was really what I wanted to do and then audition and then I, and then I got it for the program and so I really loved that about Hofstra and being here, it's been like the best four years I could ask for, so. With my professors at the relationship that we've built because it's such a close program and you're with these people one-on-one, everyone's on a first name basis I mean, we call Dr.Cole Dr. Cole but everyone else is kinda like we call my voice teacher she's alone and movement is ruggered and everyone is just kinda of on equal playing field because I mean court sitting in these classes doing like very emotionally like unsafe kinda things you know I mean so you want to be comfortable with your professors which is what's so great about this program is that there is you never doubting yourself or you know that you can trust the people that you're working with which is really great. This semester I am in "Something Wicked" witch is a one-hour adaptation of MacBeth so we it the whole concept is that were traveling troop of actors so we have like suitcases and trunks and there's no there's no real set or backstage. when we change, because I play about like three characters, so when we change from characters we just step off to the side and put on our costume in everyone sees that like we're just actors telling a story so that kind of like what we really wanted to do. So the the play is very kind of very bare bones and just trying to stick to the plot as best as they can and putting as much poetry in Shakespeare's language in there as we possibly can. But it's a really good way to kind of like get your toes wet with shakespeare. The thing I love being in the companion player the one-hour touring show is that we do have performances here at Hofstra, but those are actually kinda towards the end of our run so we've actually already opened and we've performed in a couple of high schools and it's been really actually kinda gratifying because the students they actually really really like it and now we have like a talkback afterward so they're open to ask us questions and things like that and the first time that we performed it was on on their stage and there on the stage with us rather than having them out in the auditorium and so we were Like on the same plane everyone was looking into each others eyes they were this far away from me so at the end of it they just all their hands shot up and they had all these great questions about like what is it like to perform Shakespeare and how is it different from a normal play and so it's really great like helping them understand that Shakespeare is not that far away from you know movies that we watch all the time. Well what if things that's great about Hofstra and the drama department is we've actually been ranked 9th on Backstage. Backstage is like this big, I guess, it's a magazine it doesn't really feel like a magazine but casting jobs go out and articles go out to actors and theaters and agents and it lets everybody know, you know were an established school that has a really strong program. I think what's really great about Hofstra and the drama department is that everyone is very very close. You know everyone in the department and everyone knows who you are and throughout these past four years I've built these great relationships with people that I consider colleagues and collaborators rather than just like peers and so now as I'm graduating i'm looking back on you know, freshman year and things like that and, and it's just kinda it's worked itself out, you know I just trusted my professors and I trusted the program and I just went to class and did my work and if you work hard, it will happen. I feel prepared to do that now as I'm you know getting ready to graduate and auditioning out in the city and things like that so I feel really great.