El was riding her bike to a park to read lines for a show she is in.
El: I'm teaching music, doing a musical at my school, adding more music teaching on top of my music teaching, and preparing for this crazy show. It's Hamlet, at Shotgun [Players], and it's roulette style.
El explains that the actors have to learn all the parts. Before every performance, each actor draws the role they will play that night out of a hat.
Me: Excited? Scared? Nervous?
El: ALL those things. Every single line, every single character track. We'll be rehearsing 32 hours a week for 6 weeks.
Me: How long have you been an actor?
El laughs.
El: I don't really identify as an actor. Kind of... I dunno. It's hard for me to. In the same way it's hard for me to identify as a musician. I play music, I do things on stage, but...
Me: Do you use any identifiers?
El: I would say theater artist, theater maker. Yeah.
See El in "Hamlet" at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA, March 31- May 15. www.shotgunplayers.org
