Due to the fact that I live in an urban neighborhood where bullets have no name, I thought it would be quite easy to approach such a character as Beatrice. I thought, "How hard could it be?" But when I'm actually on stage and reading through my lines, I realize that it's COMPLETELY different. It's different because I was never face-to-face with peer pressure or violence. Beatrice is pressured to join the Shepherds. Personally, I feel as though she's reluctant but finally agrees to join the gang because she's new at school and longs for acceptance. Although, she chooses the wrong way to go and faces challenges in the end, Margaret and Ursula, Shepherds, accept her. They see her hesitance but keep pursuing her and Beatrice gives in because that's probably the closest she'll get to acceptance.
For me, I appreciate such a role. Playing Beatrice has opened my eyes to certain aspects of my community that I've never really noticed. I walk home every day in a Catholic school uniform past lost teenagers and drug dealers, and sometimes it can become routine. But now, I see that everyone I come across may very well be a Biron or Beatrice. Or maybe a King Navarre. Everyone meets a crossroad at some point in time. And it's up to them which path they choose.
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