(gentle music) - In this series we begin with Shakespeare, and you're about to meet an inspiring group of young actors who are devoted to his works.

In the process of rehearsing, and picking apart a character, each have to delve into aspects of mental health.

And with the help of a Bard-loving therapist, they learned how empathy and the power of Shakespeare's words can connect us to important truths about ourselves.

Maybe it's not a total surprise, but Shakespeare introduced his audience to PTSD, traumatic grief, depression, questions about identity, even body-based trauma.

That and more over 400 years ago.

We think it's never too late to learn new things about mental wellness from a creative force who never seems to get old.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) - What sayest though, Kate, what wouldest thou have with me?

- Do you love me?

- Plays and characters can help us better understand ourselves.

- Love thee not if not for thee.

- Shakespeare writes his plays to show people parts of themselves that they didn't know they had.

- Pagan rascal is this, infidel.

- Shakespeare understood people, his plays offer a lot of insight into mental health.

- I have often heard my mother say that I was brought into this world with legs forward.

- And the midwife wondered and cried out Jesus, bless us, it's born with teeth.

- The way Shakespeare wrote in his language, and the words he chose to use, offers many outlets for people to understand mental health on different levels.

- Then I loved thee.

I showed thee all the qualities of the isle fresh springs, brine pits, baron place and fertile.

- Through Shakespeare I can delve into deeper truths about myself that maybe I'm not crazy about exploring, but I know I should.

- Shakespeare's the guy that brought the flawed characters, and the ones with the very human problems.

- I mean look at Hamlet, look at Macbeth.

It's as if these people are suffering from things that people in England amongst the living would lapse into these states because they were untreated.

- My brother is in ---- por chance he has not drowned.

- One thing we see with traumatized individuals is that trauma disconnects and healing reconnects.

(indistinct) creativity is it's all about connection.

It's all about seeing connections that no one has ever seen before.

That's what Shakespeare did.

- Thy spirit within me have been so at war, and thus has so bestirred me in my sleep that beads of sweat have stood upon my brow like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream.

- To me it just has always seemed very obvious that why not look at the person who is the most creative with our language to see how we can heal?

(gentle music) I'm really, really excited to be here with all of you today.

Part of the reason I'm so excited is you get to talk not only about you specifically as actors, kind of how you work, how you tick, but also just the creative process in general.

Also, my particular expertise, mental health.

And so I wanna kind of ask you and start this conversation tonight with why mental health, why Shakespeare?

Why does it speak to each one of you?

What about Shakespeare, mental health, and these particular pieces, speak to you not only as actors but as people?

- I personally was into this project because I feel that Shakespeare is a universal language, and it can speak to anyone and everyone, and it is constantly done, and it's very easy to overlook some of the very serious issues that are in some of the Shakespeare plays, and it's really important, especially if we're gonna continue to put life into these timeless works that we bring honesty to the characters, and we also fit it into the modern day lens as well.

So I think that's why I was attracted to the Shakespeare in correlation with the mental health.

- Yeah, I think that, especially, and the specific pieces that we chose, when you are demonstrating real life examples or versions of mental health, but you do it with a specific language, and then you bring actors into it, once we get into that rehearsal process and we start understanding the dots kind of all connect.

And sometimes with Shakespeare what we're saying can be a little bit different.

But once you sort of connect a language, and you start to understand that, you get a good picture, and a good sense of the mental side of it with how we're feeling, and what we're saying.

- We (indistinct) go into this project with the intent of finding the issues of mental health we can relate to with these characters, but I think someone maybe not interested in the theater would watch a show or read the play, but wait, that sounds like something I would say, or hey, that sounds like something I heard someone I've heard say before.

Yeah, I get that, I feel that.

And I think that's where we, we don't necessarily look for things to explain for explanations, we find them.

You hear literal hallelujah, that can make a person feel a million different ways.

So when you read Shakespeare, one person might take it one way, and one person might take it the other way, but it is finding it, our own, our own definitions, our own relations to them, - I'm drawn to this just because I wanna find out more for myself.

I mean maybe that's selfish, but even being able to deeply find out more about the characters I got to work on, and then learn from you about that is just, I think everyone can benefit from that.

Mental health is also just something that is also timeless, it's not something that just came up now.

So to take a piece that is so dated, to see how that connects to how we as humans feel still to this day is just awesome to think about, and I think that is important to talk about.

- It sounds like one of the key points y'all are emphasizing is it's something that, it's universal because it allows that self discovery.

And it allows, and that the words cannot be excised from that.

That's such a powerful point.

Am I getting that right?

- Yes, they are molded together, you can't separate the two.

The language especially for us helps us get into all of that stuff.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] In Henry the Fourth part one, Harry Percy, known as Hotspur because of his battle tested intensity, and fiery temper, is obsessed with avenging his family's name by taking down the king.

And he plans a rebellion against the monarch.

Unsure of who he can trust, it's apparent these trust issues include his relationship with Kate, his wife, a marriage now lacking openness and intimacy.

As Harry is all-consumed by thoughts of war and vengeance, we witness, as Kate bravely attempts to break through, and help mend her husband's troublesome emotional state.

It's clear Shakespeare understood the fragile nature of what we know now as PTSD.

- The purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted in your whole plot to life for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.

Say you so?

Say you so?

I say you are a shallow cowardly hide and you lie.

What a lack brain is this?

By the Lord our plot is a good plot as ever was laid.

Our friends true and constant and full of expectation.

An excellent plot, very good friends.

Is there not my father, my uncle and myself?

Lord Edmond Mortimer, my Lord of York, and Owen Glendower.

Have I not all their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of next month?

And aren't they not some of them sent forth already?

Pagan rascal is this.

Infidel.

(gentle music) You shall see now in very sincerity of fear and cold heart will he to the king, and lay open all our proceedings.

We'll hang him.

Let him tell the king, we are prepared.

I will set forward tonight.

How now, Kate, I must leave you within these two hours.

- Oh my good Lord, why are you thus alone?

For what offense have I this fortnight been a banished woman from my Harry's bed?

Tell me.

Sweet Lord, what is it that takes from me thy stomach, pleasure and thy golden sleep.

Why does thou bend thine eyes upon the Earth, and start so often when thou sits alone?

Why hast though lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, and given up my treasures and my rights to thee to think I'm musing and curse melancholy?

In my faint slumbers, I by thee have matched, and heard the murmur tails of iron wars.

Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed, cry courage to the field, and now has talked of Sallies and retires of trenches, tense of palisades, frontiers, parapets of basilicas of cannon, cauldron of prisoners ransom, and of soldiers slain, and all the currents of a heady fight.

Thy spirit within thee has been so at war.

And thus has so bestirred thee in thy sleep that beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream.

And in thy face, strange motions have appeared such as we see when men restrain their breath on some great sudden hex.

What portance are these?

Some heavy business hath my Lord in hand, and I must know it, else he loves me not.

- Sara.

Fetch me my horse, lead him forth to the park.

- But hear you my Lord.

- What sayest thou my lady?

- What is it carries you away?

- Why, my horse, my love, my horse.

- How, you mad headed ape, a weasel hath not such a deal spleen as you are tossed with.

In faith I'll know your business Harry.

Fear my brother Mortimer doster about his title, and hath sent for you to line his enterprise, but if you go... - I'm so far of foot, I shall be weary love.

- Come.

Come, you parakito, answer me directly unto this question that I ask.

In faith I'll break thy little finger, Harry, if that will not tell me all things true.

- Go away.

Away, you trifler.

Love?

I love thee not.

I care not for thee.

This is no world to play with mammoths and to tilt with lips.

We must have bloody noses, and cracked crowns, and paths of courage to guide me.

Where's my horse?

What sayest thou, Kate, what will thou hath with me?

- Do you not love me?

Do you not indeed?

Well do not then for since you love me not I will not love myself.

Do you not love me?

Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.

- Come.

Will thou see me off?

When I am on horseback I swear I will love thee infinitely, but hark you, Kate, must not have you henceforth question me wither I go nor reason whereabout.

Whither I must I must.

And to conclude this evening must I leave you gentle Kate.

I know you wise, but yet no further wise than Harry Percy's wife.

Thou will not utter what thou does not know.

So far will I trust thee gentle Kate.

- How so far?

- Not an inch further.

But argue you, Kate, whither I go fither shall you go too.

Today will I set forth, tomorrow you.

Will this continue, Kate?

- You must force.

(gentle music) - One of the things I thought was fascinating that you and Kendra played was the PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder, which it was a diagnosis made for military.

You did something that when I worked at the Veteran's Administration with veterans, that just to me was one of the nucleic parts of it, I call it the wall.

- Mm-hmm.

- There was a massive wall that came up in the scene between you and Lady Percy.

And I'm wondering how, how did you tap into that, that part of the wall?

How were you able to make that so effective and just, so it just seemed very genuine?

- Yes.

So I kind of related the militariness to sports for me.

A war with one side and another side, you have two teams.

How would I feel as the captain of my team, the leader of my team if somebody on my team decided one day hey, I'm not gonna show up to the game because I think that our team actually sucks.

I would be pretty upset.

I'm a pretty competitive guy, I played sports in high school, and I put myself in that mindset.

So as I was reading the letter, and getting into the scene, and building that emotional wall, I was thinking about that, about the betrayal, and how I'm gonna deal with this now.

So it was really easy to be on that other side of the wall because that's all I was thinking about.

And it's funny 'cause Kendra was effective in some tactics to get through, and whenever we had those moments as Hotspur I had to then build the wall back up.

- Yeah, there's something you said that reminded me of something one of the veterans I worked with, Iraq veteran, because it connects kind of what you were saying, and what that veteran said was "War is ruthless and we have to be ruthless "in protecting our own."

And the context that he said that in was he was married, his marriage was falling apart, and his wife, kind of like Lady Percy, wanted to get connection, and he was not mean or violent, but just cold was the word that kept coming up that his wife would say, very cold, he's a cold man.

And when I asked him about that in a session he said "War is ruthless, we have to be ruthless "in protecting our own."

As the spouse in that scene, how is that ruthlessness coming through?

I thought the tactics you did not only were effective within the scene, but also they seemed organic from a psychologist perspective, having worked with veterans and their partners, it seemed really effective, like a real genuine expression of what it would be like to be married to somebody with PTSD.

- I feel like I didn't notice, maybe a couple times, but I rarely noticed the times that I would get through to Chris as Harry, and there did come a point where the director did speak to me, and was like okay, what other tactic?

And just thinking from a perspective of me, and being put in the situation, I was like I have, I have no idea what else, I can cry, I can yell, I can touch him, and if it's not working it's not working.

And it really, I think, put my mind into perspective of people who go through this, and just that helplessness.

She's not just mad she's helpless.

And I think it's even written in that line where he's like love?

This is about cracking skulls, and this is what it's about 'cause war is brutal.

And in order to go through it you have to protect yourself, whether it's a tactic like that.

You have to protect the people you love, whether it means you have to go back out there and do it again.

What this person had said to you definitely rings true, or at least it's proven in a scene like that.

- And within that same case that I was referencing, talking with the spouse, the wife, she said it's like I've lost him twice.

I lost him when he went to war, and then I lost him when he came back from war.

- She does say, she says a line actually where she says "And in your face "strange motions have appeared."

And basically saying you aren't the same, I look at you, and I don't see you anymore, you're gone.

I actually have heard that saying a lot, and I think with this scene it's definitely, I think that's why, that's why this scene happened, it is because it was a dire need to get him, to see him again at least once, or to get him to see her.

I think personally why this connected with me so much is I've seen people I love and care about just deteriorate, it's really hard, especially if you don't know why.

So I think that it also was not just a good way to showcase somebody who was going through something untreated, untalked about, something that people very much deal with today, but also how it can effect the people closest to them.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] In "Twelfth Night," a young woman named Viola faces traumatic circumstances, and must find her way in a new life, one she did not plan on.

Soon after her father dies the ship transporting she and her twin brother to a new home is hit by a terrible storm.

She barely survives drowning, and believes her brother is lost at sea.

At her most vulnerable, her lowest point, she is helped by a kind sailor.

In what appears tragic, Shakespeare instead shows us a young woman's bravery and resilience.

(Viola crying) (gentle music) - What country, friend, is this?

- This is Illyria, lady.

- What should I do in Illyria?

My brother is in Illycion.

Por chance he has not drowned.

What think you, sailor?

- It was por chance that you yourself were saved.

- My poor brother.

No por chance may he be.

- Aye, that's true madame.

And to comfort you with chance, rest assured that after our ship did split I saw your brother.

Most provident in peril, find himself courage and hope, teaching him the practice through a strong mast that lived upon the sea were like, like Eryion on the dolphin's back.

He held acquaintance with the waves for as long as I could see.

- For saying so there's gold.

Mine own escaped unfoldeth to my hope whereto thy speech serves for authority of like of him.

- No, no, keep it.

- Knowest thou this country?

- Aye, madame, well.

I was bread and born not three hours traveled from this place.

- Who governs here?

- Nobel duke in nature as in name.

- What's the name?

- Orsino.

- Orinso?

Yeah, I've heard my father name him.

He was a bachelor then.

- And so is now.

I was so very light from about a month ago I went from hence, and then twas fresh in twas fresh in murmur that he did seek the love of fair Olivia.

- And she?

- Virtuous maid, daughter of a count.

Died some 12 month hence, leaving her in the protection of his son.

Her brother who also shortly died.

For who's dear love they say she hath abdured the company and sight of men.

- Oh that I served that lady.

It might not be delivered to the world till I've made my own occasions mellow what my state is.

- I were hard to compass.

She will admit no kind of suit, no, not even the Duke's.

- There is fair behavior in thee captain.

I pray thee, and I will pay thee bounteously.

Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise shall happily become the form of my intent.

I'll serve this duke.

Thou shall present me as a man to him.

This will allow me very worth his service.

What else may have to time I will commit only shake thou by silence to my wit.

- You're mute I'll be.

And when my tongue blabs let my eyes not see.

- I thank thee.

Lead me on.

- Viola and the sailor to me is a pretty classic grief reaction, 'cause that's kind of a different type of reaction to trauma and adversity.

And so just kind of general thoughts on playing that part.

- It was interesting getting Viola, or deep diving on it because at first glance it's a comedy, and most people know it as a comedy because the whole play is basically a comedy.

And so the opening scene with Viola is actually very tragic.

Her father's dead, she believes her brother's dead, she just was in a ship wreck, she almost drowned, and so she just feels lost and alone.

And it wasn't until someone else came, and kind of pushed her out of that that she was able to find out how to continue her life, and her story, and I loved working on it because it gave me a sense of how you can be there for someone else when you find that they're in grief.

And I think I actually related more to the captain than Viola because I feel like I need to be more of a support system for people in life, and I think it's important for all of us to know that maybe people just need someone there.

- One thing that struck me was the sailor, and you mentioned this Kelsey, the sailor does probably a Shakespearean therapy session essentially in that scene, and that also seemed like, as a person who does a lot of grief work, it seemed very effective, and very supportive, but also not super minimizing, like it's gonna be okay, everything's all right.

- First of all she finds that the sailor's words of him being honest with her and upfront about, 'cause she asks, once she finds out maybe there's some hope for her brother because he does sugar coat that a little bit, and that's helpful because he, he's being honest.

He goes I did see your brother, he, we didn't see him drown, so it doesn't mean he's gone.

And that is that glimmer yeah, well I survived so maybe he survived.

That's number one, but then he keeps gaining her trust by just, not saying everything's gonna be okay, but now she can have a conversation with him, and now there's a connection between her and that person, and it's not just about her brother anymore, not just about her father.

It's about someone now who's just there fore her, and another person that can now be for her.

And the part where she discovers that she wants to dress up like a man, she says "I trust you."

And I think that we need people in our lives that we can trust.

And now she has someone else to grasp onto and to help her.

And here's just the next step froward.

You don't have to sit here on the sand crying your eyes out, you can go meet someone, or connect with someone.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] "The Tempest" takes place on a remote island in some distant past, where a number of lives has been turned upside down.

There we meet Caliban, a native island dweller, who has made servant and slave to Prospero, a banished duke with magic-like powers, who single handedly raised his now teenager daughter Miranda.

Here Miranda watches as Caliban, both a victim and perpetrator in Shakespeare's final play shares his feelings of loss, love and betrayal, even in the face of her father's harsh punishments.

- (indistinct), slave, Caliban.

Thou Earth thou speak.

Come forth I say.

They wicked damn, come forth.

- Wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd, with raven's feather from unwholesome fen.

drop on you both.

Southwest blow on ye and blister you all.

- And for this be sure tonight thou shall have cramps.

Side stitches that shall pin thy breath up.

Urchants shall for that vast of night that they may work all exercise on thee.

Thou shalt be pinched as sick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging than the bees that made them.

- This island's mine.

My sycorax, my mother which thou taketh from me when thou camest first.

Thou strokedst me, made as much of me.

Give me water with berries in it, and teach me how to name the bigger light, nowtheless that burn by day and night.

And then I love thee.

I showed thee all the qualities of the isle, fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile.

Curse behind that did so.

All the charms and sycorax, toads, beetles, bats lay on you for I am all the subject that you have, which first was mine own king, and here you system me in this hard rock.

Are you to keep from me the rest of the island.

- Thou most lying slave.

Whom stripes may move, not kindness.

I have used thee, filth as thou art, with human care, and watched thee in mine own cell, thou I did seek to violate the honor of my child.

- Wouldn't have been done, thoust did prevent me.

I had peopled this isle with Calibans.

- Torrid slave.

- I pitied thee, took pains to make thee speak, taught thee one thing each hour.

When thou dist not know thine own meaning, I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

- But thy vile race, thou that it's learned, have that in it which good natures could doth abide to be with.

Therefore, was thou deservedly confined into this rock when thoust deserved more than a prison.

- You taught me language, and my prophet on is I know how to curse, the red plague rid you for teaching me your language.

- exceed hence fetches and few and be quick.

If (indistinct) or just unwillingly for I command.

I will rock thee with old commands.

Will all the crows with eggs, make thee roar.

The beast shall tremble (indistinct).

- No.

Pray thee (grunting)... (dramatic music) I will obey.

- So, slave, hence.

- I shouldn't have a favorite character in Shakespeare, but with this project, Caliban is something I had.

So I- - You hear that guys?

I'm the favorite.

I'm the favorite.

- Favorite character.

- Character.

- You are a character.

And so tell us a little bit about just some general thoughts about playing that, especially that piece for Caliban and that character in "The Tempest."

- Well the scene is his, introduction scene, the first time we meet Caliban.

And typically a production will portray Caliban as the villain.

At the beginning of the play, Caliban, who has lived on the island beforehand, had lost his mother.

And then so he finds a second family with Prospero and Miranda.

And then through certain actions which aren't exactly clear, he loses that second family.

And now he's also losing his home.

Prospero's kind of taken over the island, so he's just going through, and kind of like Viola, has just lost so much.

He's just a very sad, lonely creature, who wants to have a home, people to love him.

And he's being constantly berated and attacked by his former father figure, now his master, kind of a slave/master relationship.

And you're just constantly seeing him get beaten down, and you see him try to just, in the scene try to fight against it.

And as someone myself who has dealt with a certain trauma in his life, and never really having that drive to fight back, and just having to really in the moment feel all that pain that Caliban is going through, and trying to not let it effect me so much personally, and stay within the scene was a challenge for me.

It was kind of a way for me to also get it out of my system at the same time.

- One thing that fascinated me as I was doing this project was oh my God, Caliban has complex trauma.

Caliban was betrayed, Caliban was hit.

And that, betrayal is a big part of a lot of the kids I work with with complex trauma.

Their biological parent specifically will betray them, and hurt them, and that's the person you're supposed to trust the most.

And it seemed that parallel with kids I have who their biological parents are abusing them for years at a time, and then Prospero in Caliban, where Caliban that was preexisting supposed to be that relationship with trust.

- Building trust with someone can be an enormous task, be with a complete stranger like Viola does with the sailor, or with your parent, 'cause even, you just assume you're supposed to trust them 'cause they're your parents, they raised you, they show you right from wrong.

They show you not to touch a hot stove.

They tell you don't put that in your mouth.

You think okay, they know what's best for me, I should always listen to them.

And all of a sudden what is best for me is not be anywhere near them.

It also brings back a question of worth.

What is he now if he's not the son, the pet?

I think the reason why the director chose this role for me specifically is 'cause I discuss a lot about how people who look like me got the short end of the stick a lot.

So I'm from the Philippines, and we were kind of screwed over by anyone who had a ship.

The British, American, the Spaniards.

We were told we were less than because we're not white, we're not Christian, we're not proper.

So, again, what am I?

- I think one thing that seems very effective with that scene, and I hear this a lot even with my kids is that I'm not human.

I'm not a person.

I'm not real.

I'm not a human being.

I'm a monster.

And so there's this almost internal dehumanization process which seems like you capture very effectively as Caliban.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Richard the Third is one of Shakespeare's most legendary characters, and he's often portrayed as an evil comic book villain, but when we first meet him in the play "Henry VI Part III" before he becomes king, he reveals his buried feelings of being unloved, disrespected, and the outcast of his family.

Much of that because of physical deformities since birth.

In this re-envisioned interpretation of Richard as a woman, we're offered a female perseverative on the challenges women face in today's image conscious and perfectionist culture, and the ongoing struggle to be recognized and valued.

Here, the crown becomes a means to identity.

- I do but dream on sovereignty, like one that stands on a promontory, and spies a far off shore where he would tread, wishing his foot were equal with his eye.

Chides the sea that sunders him from fence, saying he'll lay to dry to have his way.

So do I wish the crown, being so far off, and so I chide the means that keeps me from it.

Yet, say there is no kingdom here for Richard, what other pleasure can the world afford?

Make my heaven in a ladies lap, deck my body in gay ornaments, bewitch sweet ladies with my words, and looks.

Miserable thought.

More unlikely than to accomplish 20 golden crowns.

Why?

Love.

For swore me in my mother's room so I should not deal in her soft laws.

She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe to shrink mine arm up like a withered shrub to make an envious mountain on my back versus deformity to mock my body.

Shape my legs of unequal size to disproportion me in every part like to a chaos, or unlinked bearwop that carries no impression like the damn.

Then am I a thing to be beloved?

Monstrous fault to harbor such a thought.

I often hear my mother say that I was brought into this world with legs forward, and the midwife wondered, and cried out "Jesus bless us, it's born with teeth.," And so I was, which plainly signified that I should snarl, and bite and play the dog.

Since the heavens have shaped my body so, let hell make crooked my mind to answer it.

I have no brother.

I am like no brother in this word, love, which graybeards called divine, be resident in men like one another, and not in me.

I am myself alone.

And I will make my heaven to dream upon the crown.

- Now one of the characters that I will be honest I did not really appreciate until this project, and working on this, was Richard.

And so I would really love, if you would, Kelsey, talk about what that experience was like for you.

- Well the director and I had gone back and forth many times whether I, the typical way when a female plays Richard is to do it more her as a man, androgynous very much, but one day we just had this epiphany like how about we do it as a woman?

And I had said at the beginning of the project that I really relate to Richard in a lot of sense because of the way that I as a woman feel in today's society, and just this pressure that I have to look like something, or hold myself to this standard.

And so we just kind of bounced back and forth.

I'm like let's do it as a woman because I think it's something that a lot of women need to hear these days is that you struggle, you look at yourself in the mirror, and you see all these things that's wrong with you, and you can't get it out of your head.

And you feel like you have to put all your self worth into something else.

For Richard that was power.

He wanted the crown so much because that was what he was holding onto for his self worth, and I think that a lot of women do that.

- Two questions, in any order you wanna answer them, Kelsey.

One is the aspect of that other side of the spectrum which we call over restricting or over performing, or however, you wanna call it, this is my worth.

The real world example is the person who graduates high school, valedictorian at 17, gets their bachelors at 20, law degree at 25, partner at 30, and suicidal at 32.

The other aspect is a lot of trauma's very body based, whether that's sexual assault is one of the aradigmatic ones, but even something like neglect, where you're starving, you always feel it in your body when you're hungry, and it never goes away for some of us.

And so those are kind of my two questions about Richard is the, the over restricting the crown, that's his identity, or at least within that scene.

The other one is just the way the body plays in, disability plays in to someone with that kind of trauma.

- You know, there's so many people above him that can get the crown before him so his only worth is like oh, I need to step up a ladder to show that I'm worth it to myself.

You know, he blames his disabilities on other people too, and I, he says my mom, the midwife cried out, it was like a demon coming out of the womb.

How do you feel personally if someone tells you that right when you were born that you're different than everyone else because of the things that are wrong with you?

And I feel like that fury just eats at him his whole life.

I have to mean something more than this monster that people think I am.

And it turns into this fury and aggression that's the opposite of shutting down, it's like acting upon it.

And turns into killing, and very aggressive behavior because that's all he really knows how to handle it.

- That was a beautiful answer 'cause in my head at least I don't think they're separate, I think they're connected.

I'm always fascinated with the way Shakespeare portrays monstrosity.

What are kind of your thoughts on how Richard is creating identity or not, that's also a possibility, no, he's actually not creating an identity, he's having trouble with that, or actually he's trying to, he's trying to create a stable identity in the face of people telling him he's a monster.

- I mean he's definitely trying to make an identity because he has a clear end point.

There's an end goal, he's like get the crown, and once I get that that is it.

He kind of, it just becomes obsessive for him.

And really it is, that is his worth, that is his end goal.

Just some people's end goals, maybe this one thing that I do different with my body or this picture that I take or this amount of following or how many likes, or this job I get or don't get, that is the end goal, and you think that once you get there you'll be happy, but you don't even know if you will.

And it's that obsessive goal that I think is what drives the character.

(gentle music) - Part of having trauma is wanting to escape, wanting to not talk about it, wanting to not be around it.

I tell people PTSD is the only diagnosis you gotta not want to talk about.

It's literally part of the diagnosis.

And so I will say I disagree with this argument, but here's the argument.

Well, since we don't want people to escape, that's part of, you want you to confront your trauma, confront your adversity, theater, this Shakespeare stuff is escapism, that's all it is.

It's just we're escaping, you're just going into another world, or another person so you're really not dealing with your stuff, you're just doing another escape thing.

It's escapist.

How would you respond to that?

- I mean coming from someone who worked on it personally, I mean I felt like it was my own therapy session when I went into rehearsal because I had to deal with the parts of myself that I don't really want to talk about.

Even the first day of rehearsal I said way too much information about my own insecurities.

And I mean I felt better, 'cause I escaped with the language.

I allowed the words to feed me, but at the same time I was able to find comfort in the fact that there's a relationship with how I feel and the words of the story, so it's not necessarily escaping, it's escaping to find yourself.

Does that make, like a protal.

- Okay, so as an actor who has used being busy and acting as escapism, I sure have, sure have, it's hard to answer without making it seem like that is what it is, but I think it really does prove that point.

Shakespeare is meant to discover things about you.

You're never gonna take a character, and not see something.

But as an audience, maybe with trauma, I guess I'm just having a hard time because if it's a situation where they're seeing their trauma played out, that isn't escaping.

- That would be my point is it's not an escape if every single Shakespeare show has some sort of mental health, right?

So let's just, so if we start with that, there's no way you can escape from it if you're going to that as an outlet because you are facing the thing that you're dealing with.

It's the opposite of escape, you're actually facing those demons.

You're facing those emotions, that trauma, played through a completely different entity, a different person, a different world, a different language.

- I think we're more, not necessarily vulnerable, but we're open to it because you are in that mindset of I'm not here to think about it, I'm here to just relax.

But then I think because you're not so focused on trying to build up walls, and trying to build up defenses against thinking about it, you're just kind of letting that stuff kind of come in.

You're like oh, yeah, watching it all play out.

- I don't think that Shakespeare should be considered an escape, it should be considered, for our intent for this project is to have a way to show someone how to deal with it instead of either trying to find different ways.

This is a way- - [Chris] Instead of escaping.

- [Kendra] Right.

- It's not an escape or a coping mechanism, it's just a way to have some shared experience between a child and the actors and the story and the peace.

- A way to create connection with people who feel they have none.

- I think that it's a way to confront it, not to escape it, and that it provides a way that people who, because one of the things about trauma, those of us who have it and have lived through it, you never escape it.

That's kind of, why I think that's such a flawed argument is no, we're always in it, it's always there, and so I think also one of the things that I heard you hit on as well when you were responding to the question is it's also a matter of timing too, like Shakespeare is gonna be there for you, and if you miss it the first time it'll come back again.

And which I think speaks to the importance of this project.

As we're kind of getting to the end of our time, which I regret 'cause I love hanging out with you guys, is I, I'm always very upfront with my history of lived experience, similar to Dustin's character of Caliban, I resonated with that in a way I don't think I've ever thought I resonated with, just the pain that Caliban has, and the betrayal, and so that was something that kind of hit a nerve really that I wasn't expecting.

And I'm wondering for each of you is, as professionals, was there anything like that that hit a nerve within the characters you were playing or within the scenes you were doing, or just even in the preparation or the kind of coming out of your character, just any part of this whole process in doing the Shakespeare sessions?

- Yeah, as far as Hotspur goes, I felt I connected to him in a couple of different ways.

One big way I felt a strong connection was sort of the relationship dynamic.

I have been in relationships before where to be honest maybe I wasn't that present, or there, which is exactly what Hotspur's dealing with, his head is basically somewhere else, and there's a line that Lady Kate says where, towards the end where she's like "Do you not love me?"

I've had to face that before in a relationship, and it's something that drew me closer to Kendra, and made it a little bit easier for me to understand, and get a little bit into that emotional state.

- I, as an actor, as a person, put a lot of pressure on myself, that's what I do.

I always, personally I'm always striving for what I can do better in life, 'cause I take things, I go, it is my fault, this is my fault, so Richard resonated to me in that way.

I always go, with my acting work, I'm like that's not good enough, why am I not good?

Why is the audience not perceiving it this way?

What can I do better?

Why do I suck?

And it also relates to how I feel I look.

I feel like if I'm not the best actor, they I have to be the prettiest.

And if I'm not the prettiest, then I have to be the best actor.

And that never goes away.

And that is 1,000% how I connected to Richard.

- Thank you for sharing that, Kelsey.

Yeah, that definitely came across as a powerful part of your portrayal of Richard.

- With Caliban, I think what I related to him most was just that desire to be loved, and wanting to be loved.

And not so much loss of identity, but wanting to be loved so bad that you'll put your trust in anybody, and then when it's, and then being shut down, betrayed, and then escaping.

It becomes harder and harder to put that trust in people, and at the same time wanting to still be with those, that person that hurt you, and not realizing that you should not want that person's love.

And really, really figure out what love actually is, and what it can do for you.

And that is something that I really delved into when I was doing my preparation for the role.

And that's how I finally began to empathize with Caliban, who, again, I've always seen as the villain of the tempest.

I'm like oh no, this guy is heartbroken.

And so finding that within him was how I was able to finally connect with him.

- I guess the thing that I related to the most, or what struck a cord with me, it really was that day when I didn't know how to reach him.

I've seen people, mainly with addiction, and I've seen that in front of me, and I've seen that kind of effect, and then that fight between being the caregiver that you know you need to be, and also sticking to who you are, that I definitely connected with.

- I'll tell you the reason for this question is not to be voyeuristic, not to get up all in your business, is that I spend a lot of time trying to train people, therapists, empathy, which seems really simple, but one thing I tell them, which apparently is very shocking to them, they're surprised by it, is the short version is empathy hurts.

'Cause, now you don't have to go back to an identical pain that the person you're in front of has, you have to go back into a place of pain where you couldn't reach that person, where you wanted to be loved, but weren't, where you screwed up something really bad, or you don't feel good enough.

A big reason I do this, and a big reason I signed onto this is I reach people one by one, literally.

One by one by one.

You do it an entirely different way, through an entirely different avenue, through means that I don't understand, that I don't have the training in.

And a big part of my involvement and dedication to this is you're gonna reach those kids and adults that I'll never be able to.

So I wanna express my sincere, deeply genuine thanks to each and every one of you for being able to go to those places since these were painful characters, and painful scenes.

These weren't softball parts of Shakespeare, these were some of the hardest hitting parts of Shakespeare that you can do, and you went right at them.

And there's a quote by the poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that says, and I'll paraphrase.

It takes an incredible person to step inside the pain of a stranger.

So I am not only priviledged, I'm very honored to be part of this, to be working with you, and have worked with you.

- It's been great to actually finally discuss all the work we've been doing.

- Yeah, so insightful.

- With all of you as well, 'cause we've kind of all been on our own, kind of doing our own work, so to actually be together for once it was a wonderful experience for me.

- It's rare that you get an opportunity after you close a show or scene where you get to just talk about the process, and how you felt, and how it relates to so many different things in your life, so we appreciate the conversation.

We appreciate you as well.

- Who put all these hearts on my sleeve?

What the... - Oh úmy God, my heart's growing too big.

Ah no, what's happening?

- Yep, they're actors.

- It's been a great breakfast club little thing going on here.

(gentle music)