Laney Pleasanton, student dramaturg, interviews Brendan Berndt, who plays G in Penn State Off-Centre Stage’s upcoming production of Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka.

LP: What inspired you to go into performing?

BB: My whole life, I wanted to play baseball. And then, my shoulder got injured and it was really hard to play baseball all of a sudden. My freshman year of high school, I decided to take a year off. A bunch of my friends decided they wanted to audition for the play, and so I auditioned. I got cast, miraculously, and I was so excited for it. It just kind of felt right. There was just something inside of me telling me to keep doing this. I tried going back to baseball the next year, but in the third practice of the season, a ball fractured my cheek. And since I was doing theatre at the same time, I kind of knew where the forces seemed to be working. Then, my junior year of high school, I did a show that really meant something; it was very relatable and close-to-home for me. My Grandma got to see it before she passed away, and the way she talked to me about it was just, “Brendan, if you don’t pursue this in some way, you’re dumb.” And so when she passed away, that was when I really made the decision. And there is not a single day when I’ve regretted making that decision.

LP: How do you begin your process?

BB: First, I read the script twice. I always read the script at least twice before rehearsals even start. And Brandon Gregory taught me something where I go through the script, and every time my character says anything, does anything, or whenever my character is talked about, I take it all in and figure out how to interpret all of those things. Then, I go into what this character wants overall. Even though we’re all complex people, there’s often one general thing, at least in plays, that we all want. Then, I go through the lines in order to make specific choices. After that, it’s getting off book and making sure that you’re doing the director’s story justice.

LP: When you first read this play, what did you think?

BB: It was tough to separate it from the Greek mythology behind it all. I spent most of my first time reading it trying to relate everything back to mythology. At first, I felt like the play was extremely vague, and it was hard to buckle down and really understand the story. But I loved the writing, and I thought that from my limited knowledge of homelessness in America, this accurately represented what these kids go through every single day, and how they’re still so human even though they’re not like the average audience member who would come see this show. I think the play was trying really hard to say, “Just because we’re in this situation doesn’t mean we’re not human.” I think these characters are just looking for someone to tell their story to.

LP: Using three words, describe our production of Polaroid Stories.

BB: Dark, empathetic, longing.

LP: What is your favorite line from the play?

BB: “A story of a girl who walked away, and never looked back / and how she changed into something else / and how the old scars, how they grew new, smooth skin–”

LP: Without giving too much away, what part of the production are you most excited to do or see on stage?

BB: Well I rap, so that’s really fun. I’m excited to do that. But also, every time I watch Zack Wold doing something on stage, he just makes very interesting and fun choices. I think it’s so fun to watch him. There’s also a scene between Cameron Pillitteri and Francesca Rowe that’s very intense, and I think they both do an incredible job.  

LP: What was the most challenging aspect for you in your development of this character?

BB: I had a lot of people tell me who they thought the character was. “He’s a pimp, he’s this, he’s that,” and what I found myself accidentally doing was stereotyping the character, which I’m never going to do again. I forgot to look at him as a human rather than this “victimizer”, which I don’t agree with. It’s a cross between “I’m this big, tough guy” and “I’m a decent human who just wants to help people.” I’ve been trying to let go of the stereotypes that I think society tends to place on these types of people and coming down to their human essence first; finding how they grow and where they come from.