Rebecca Speas

What do you think is the place of the theatre arts in telling our history?

We have a terrible tendency as a species to gloss over or ignore the parts of history that we find troubling, disturbing, or contradictory. While I think it is understandable at a basic level - no one likes to dwell on their mistakes - I also find this pattern of editing out the parts of history we don't like dangerous and harmful. It may sound like a cliche, but I do put stock in the saying "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." History is a cyclical process, and I think that a well-rounded and complex study of history is what gives us the self-awareness to recognize our own faults and take steps to prevent them, and keep something like the Japanese interments from happening again.

History has long been a theatrical subject, but it is almost always used as a reflection or exploration of the present. Elizabeth I's troubles with Ireland and her preoccupation with deposition color nearly all of Shakespeare's history plays; Lin-Manuel Miranda's blockbuster new musical Hamilton is the story of the ultimate American immigrant and Founding Father told by a diverse cast of people of color; the National Theatre of Scotland's recent trilogy of Scottish history plays focusing on James I, James II, and James III, came out amidst the fervor leading up to the Scottish Independence Referendum. Theatre is at its best when it is on the cutting edge of progress, be it historical, social, cultural, or political.

If you could be an animal, what would it be and why?

An otter! They are goofy and playful and inquisitive, but can also be very graceful and powerful!

(Actor, "Mother" at day performances)

What's your background?

I started off as a dancer at age seven - I mostly did ballet, jazz, and modern dance, but as I got older I branched off into bits of folk, swing, and West African dance. I started acting in high school, and continued to train at the American Shakespeare Center's Young Company in Staunton, VA, and at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, before moving to the DC area. I've performed locally with the Empty Chair Theatre Company, the Rude Mechanicals (MD), Idly Bent Theatre (now Mad/Ecstatic Collective in NYC), and Tasty Monster Productions.

Have you been a part of Capital Fringe or any other Fringe before?

I participated in last year's Capital Fringe Festival. I played the First Witch and a bunch of ensemble roles in the Rude Mechanicals' production of Macbeth.

Did you know the story of the 442nd Regimental Unit?

I remember being vaguely aware of what had happened growing up - I'm sure I read about it in a book somewhere - but I never studied the Japanese interments in depth until college. I was also a history major, and I took a class called "History of the US West: 1840 - Present," where we spent a whole unit studying the the Japanese internments during the war and its effects in post-war America. I can't honestly say that I remember a whole lot from the class, but I do remember one of the books we read - "Nisei Daughter" by Monica Sone, which was a wonderful and informative first-hand account of growing up in pre-war Seattle in a Japanese-American community, the prejudices they faced, and their ultimate uprooting and relocation to an internment camp.

INTERVIEWS

See more interviews from our team:

Tyler Herman (Movement Coach)

Andrew Quilpa (Actor, "Waddle" and "The Fox")

J. Robert Raines (Sound Designer)

Rebecca Speas (Actor, "Mother")

Will Pommerening (Production Stage Manager)

Matthew Strote (Actor, "Father")

Stephanie Tomiko (Actor, "Ducky)

Rachel Hynes (Actor, "Mother")

Ruthie Rado (Actor, "Flap")

Bryan Azucena (Actor, "Yori")