a bad friend
Who I played
what i learned
How i grew
In A Bad Friend, I played Liz, the popular, amiable friend to Sydney, a teenager with anxiety. Throughout the play, Sydney is falling in love with Liz, but Liz has feelings for Will, their other friend. Eventually, Sydney confesses her feelings to Liz, but Liz tells Sydney that she is straight, feeling terrible about the situation. She wants to maintain their friendship and does not hold Sydney's feelings against her, but Sydney is overcome with embarrassment and cuts her off.
This play taught me the importance of playing a character who creates conflict without meaning to. Out of context, Liz could have been seen as a villain who brutally rejects someone for no reason. Luckily, we had the opportunity to speak with the playwright, who made it clear that Liz had good intentions. This informed the way I played her and was a reminder that antagonistic forces in plays have their own motivations and are not inherently evil.
I was doing Women of Troy at the same time as A Bad Friend, and while both plays were contemporary, Women of Troy contained heightened language while A Bad Friend did not. The dialogue in this show helped me practice portraying a character that was similar to me (Liz was in high school and had more "natural," contemporary dialogue. Playing a more down-to-earth character alongside a heightened character grew my range and my level of comfort.