UVA student takes Verona by storm in first professional performance

While Princeton seniors are worrying about their classes and theses topics this fall, one of our contemporaries from the University of Virginia, Sarah Drew, is starring as Juliet in McCarter Theatre's production of "Romeo and Juliet" until Sept. 30.

Drew, a Long Island native, is no stranger to the stage. She has appeared in a production of "The Secret Garden" at the Gateway Playhouse on Long Island and in a new play called "Three More Gone" at the Passage Theater Company in Trenton.

Drew is a drama major at UVA, exploring all aspects of theater from it academic history to the technical know-how that goes into a production's lighting, set and sound.

At school she has appeared in such shows as Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia," "A Chorusline," "Uncle Vanya and Six Characters in Search of an Author" by Pirandello. You might also have heard her voice as that of the character Stacy on MTV's animated show, "Daria."

Drew said she was very excited to have been cast by director Emily Mann in "Romeo and Juliet."

"I was very nervous about the audition," she said. "This was the first Shakespeare play I'd auditioned for."

Mann's production takes a new look at the play, framing the love story in a larger, foregrounded story about the hate roiling in Verona.

"The love story is so pure and innocent and contrasts with the senseless violence surrounding it," Drew said. "Romeo and Juliet's love remains true to the end and is not contaminated by the hate. They kill themselves to conquer hatred, but at the same time, hate has conquered them."

Instead of the normal four-week rehearsal process, Mann took five weeks for "Romeo and Juliet," devoting much of the time to working on the language of the play and the relationships between the characters.

"Emily gave us a lot of freedom in our choices onstage, figuring out our characters, and stepped in only to guide us to a final product," she said. "It was amazing to have that freedom."

A normal rehearsal day for Drew consisted of a chunk of time from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. with an hour lunch break, Tuesday through Sunday.

Drew spent much of her time working with vocal coach Kate Wilson on articulation and breath support.

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She also worked on "connecting the thoughts that are in the words to thelines so that [she] would actually be thinking the thoughts on the page as [she] was saying the lines," she said.

Perhaps the most valuable part of this experience for Drew was working with professional actors, which she describes as "eye-opening." Although she said she felt "caught in the middle of two worlds."

"I'm still a student, but also a working actress," Drew said, adding that she has "learned about what it means to be an actor and to have that be [her] job."

Talking with Lucretia Taylor, who plays the Nurse in the production, Drew found valuable insights into what she hopes will be her career.

"You have to love the story you're telling, love your character, love the audience and love the other actors," she said. "You are not performing for your critics or to further your career, you are just trying to tell a story, and if two people in the audience have understood, you have done an outstanding job."

Drew said she realized what Taylor says about loving a character. "I love Juliet for a lot of reasons," she said. "I feel connected to her through her imagination, and her ability to take an idea and follow her thoughts to a logical conclusion. She's a real problem-solver. When there is a crisis, she doesn't go to pieces, but she immediately starts working on a solution."

Central to Drew's reading of the role is Juliet's faith in God, which Drew said she shares. "She is so faithful to God, and constantly appeals to him in the play," she said. "Her faith in God is unbelievable and cannot be shaken except perhaps in the end when she chooses love and Romeo over God.

"But, since Juliet believes that God brought Romeo and herself together, when she decides to join Romeo in death, she is not really forsaking God but following God's will."

The hardest part for Drew has been balancing her real life with the her stage life. She has learned to "turn off" her character at the end of the day and go home.

What might be harder for Drew is leaving the McCarter after Sept. 30 to begin her senior year at UVA after her first major professional production.