Teaching Artist Leah Reddy corresponded with Quincy Tyler Bernstine about her work in Doubt: A Parable.
LR: What is your theatre origin story?
QTB: It’s funny, whenever anyone asks me how I got my start in the theatre I always tell the story of how I got injured playing club soccer in college and decided to audition for a play instead and the rest is history, blah, blah. But now, really thinking about it, and I haven’t thought about it in AGES, my first memory of being “onstage” was as a kindergartener “playing” Hodel (I’m pretty sure, although it was many decades ago now) in a performance of “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof that we did for Grandparents’ Day. Can you imagine? Wow. I mean, we just sang the song as a class for our grandparents, but I do remember quite vividly being up there, swaying back and forth, singing my little heart out. Perhaps then and there the seed was planted.
LR: Were there any later educational or professional experiences that shaped you as an artist that you’d like to talk about?
QTB: I should start by saying that I was in no way, whatsoever, a theatre kid. I certainly have fond memories of middle and high school drama classes and various school productions I participated in but I wouldn’t say I was passionate about any of that at the time. My passion was sports, soccer and lacrosse in particular. It wasn’t until I got to college and let sports go that I started to really fall in love with theatre. Although I wasn’t a theatre major, I took a ton of theatre arts classes and spent almost all my free time doing plays. I had an acting professor (who later became my advisor), Lowry Marshall, who suggested I audition for MFA programs. I had no idea that was a thing. And it certainly never crossed my mind that this was something I could do for a living. I am here today because of Lowry. Sadly, she passed away a few months ago. I sure wish she could see our production of Doubt.
LR: What drew you to Doubt?
QTB: Well, quite simply, it’s a brilliant play.
LR: What is it like working on a revival of a play, especially one as critically acclaimed/well-known as Doubt?
QTB: Well, technically, we haven’t started yet. But I’m gonna go with “terrifying” and “thrilling”, both. It’s not like we have to figure out if the play works. We know it does. It has been proven over and over. So it’s a matter of figuring out how it works in this new space we are creating. How it works on our bodies. When I am originating a role it feels like giving birth in a sense. I wonder if it will feel the same way with this process. These characters have already been put out into the world so maybe it’s more about trying them on for a time, taking care of them for a bit. I don’t know yet. I’m anxious to see.
LR: Your body of work is vast and varied: television series, audiobook narration, and originating roles in some of the most fascinating plays of the past decades. What do you look for in projects you take on?
QTB: It really depends. Sometimes it’s the people involved, or maybe it’s a theatre or producer I’ve never worked with before. It could be the subject matter or maybe it’s a just a feeling I get when I read the script. But, ultimately, I want to be challenged. I’m a glutton for punishment I guess: the harder the better.
LR: You’ve worked in virtually every medium as an actor. What draws you to the theatre?
QTB: Theatre is the truth. There is nothing like being in a room full of people for a few shared moments in time. It sounds cliché but it really is so sacred. You go on this journey with your fellow artists and eventually with the audience and then it’s over. Gone. Almost like magic.
LR: What advice do you have for emerging actors?
QTB: I would say to make sure that this is what you want to do. If you have any other passions or skills, any at all, I would recommend putting those to use.Seriously, I don’t want to sound discouraging but as we all know by now, surely, this is an extremely challenging business. I am an actor because I HAVE to be. And if you do decide that this is for you then say “yes” to absolutely everything when you are starting out. Every reading, every workshop, being a reader at auditions (assuming we will someday have them in person again). You never know where those things will lead you.