Vox Populi, Vox Dei: Community Chorus Diaries, Volume Two

Heading into the final weekend of Julius Caesar, we present this second installment of community chorus member interviews.


Name: Charles Day
Age: 37
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
Occupation: Administrative assistant

Last time you were on stage?
February 2011. I was one of the audience members interviewed during the show Interviewing the Audience at the Vineyard Theater.

Does being at BAM feel any different now that you’ve been on stage?
Yes! I’ve worked at BAM as an usher for years, and the only time I’m ever on stage is at the end of a show to keep the audience members away from the set. Performing here and being backstage has given me a whole new perspective. I have even more respect and admiration for the actors and stage crew.

How did you feel about Shakespeare before this experience? How do you feel now?
I’ve always marveled at Shakespeare. I’ve been reading along as the play is performed each night and I am constantly rediscovering more of Shakespeare’s genius.

Which would you choose: corrupt democracy or beloved monarch?
Although imperfect, I’d go with democracy every time.

Name: Roxann Remekie
Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Occupation: Writer

What about this experience has been most exciting to you? Most surprising? Moments of stage fright?
The most exciting part is that I did not have time to THINK. AT ALL. Saturday audition, Sunday rehearsal, Monday fittings, Tuesday tech,Wednesday opening night?! I get amped off that, and it’s been so exciting ever since. Stage fright—that dance the first night. I think like 2% of me knew what I was doing, but 98%?! I was a mess.

Does being at BAM feel any different now that you’ve been on stage?
Yes. I've never been to a BAM show before, although I've worked with them in their 150th Anniversary ads. It’s like Brooklyn's home for the arts, and it feels even more so doing this show.

Any backstage secrets to share?
Me and my castmate Akyiaa have a song we do when we're putting on our wraps. That's my favorite part.

Which would you choose: corrupt democracy or beloved monarch?
Hmmmm, the co-director asked us this … Honestly, a beloved monarch. 

Name: Jonathan Hooks
Neighborhood: Harlem
Occupation: Project Associate at a non-profit

Any backstage secrets to share? 
The hot water machine is quite tricky.

Do you have a favorite line in the play?
My favorite line does not belong to Shakespeare in this production. Every night, I stop what I'm doing to hear Kadialy Kouyate sing while Brutus is asking his soldiers to kill him before he gets caught. He sings only a few words, but it is so moving.

How did you feel about Shakespeare before this experience? How do you feel now? 
Watching Simon Manyonda work and play Lucius, it was reaffirmation that there really are no small parts. If someone's reading this and didn't get the chance to see the show: he stayed so committed to his choices and even when he wasn't speaking he never disengaged from what others were saying.

Which would you choose: corrupt democracy or beloved monarch? 
Hmmm ... beloved monarch.

Name: Akyiaa Wilson
Age: 34
Neighborhood: Bed Stuy
Occupation: Waitress/freelancer

What about this experience has been most exciting to you?
Having the chance to work with the RSC is one in a million. Also, doing it here at BAM, 20 minutes from where I grew up, is something I've always wanted. It is a dream come true.

Does being at BAM feel any different now that you’ve been on stage?
Everyone has gone out of their way to make us feel at home here. You start to feel a sense of ownership and comfort that you don't get as a spectator.

Do you have a favorite line in the play?
I have a lot of them, but Ray Fearon's interpretation of the line during the forum scene, "Friends, you go to do you know not what," is so clever and so hilarious, it floors me every time.

Which would you choose: corrupt democracy or beloved monarch?
Hard one. Would I want a government in which I was made to feel like I had power but really had none? Or would I want to be ruled completely by someone I loved and for the most part agreed with? I don't know. I feel like that's society's eternal question.