If We Were Villains

When detective Colborne asks a 31-year-old Oliver if he blames Shakespeare for any of the tragedies that befell his younger self, Oliver replies, “I blame him for all of it” (296). The Dellecher students have so immersed themselves in the world of Shakespeare, their very actions in real life have turned theatrical. However, like in Shakespeare’s tragedies, small omissions have large consequences. The cost of losing oneself in a text at the expense of the real world proves to be enormous.

Some of this is inevitable. As actors, their craft requires that the students not just say their lines but feel them. For instance, Gwendolyn tells the students to reveal their insecurities because “you can’t do good work if you’re hiding” (37). The rigor of their craft requires the students to be emotionally open, raw, and vulnerable. Coupled with their youth, this makes them susceptible to larger-than-life rage and passion. Further, Dellecher takes theatre very seriously. Productions are exquisite, as seen in the descriptions of the sets and props for Macbeth and King Lear; Shakespearean quotes are a part of everyday language; and great stage actors carry the aura of celebrities. It is inevitable that the fourth-years begin to embody their roles as the personae they project to the outside world. Gradually, these personae become self-fulfilling prophecies. Meredith the “temptress” becomes an actual femme fatale when she’s seen with Oliver days after her boyfriend’s death. Wren, whose persona is innocent and frail, suffers from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and faints during a performance. Alexander, the antagonist, nearly dies of a drug overdose. Because they cannot separate themselves from their roles and personae, they feel compelled to act in self-destructive ways.

The two characters who signify the greatest danger of life imitating art are Richard and James. Early in the play, Richard argues with his classmates that Caesar, not Brutus, is the true hero of Julius Caesar. Cast as Caesar in the production, Richard’s role immediately becomes personal. Richard’s physical mannerisms also resemble those of his characters. When introducing Richard, Oliver notes his regal, self-important posture, saying, “Three years of playing kings and conquerors had taught him to sit that way in every chair, onstage or off” (13). Richard begins to believe he is the king of his social and professional circle. When the balance of power threatens to shift, Richard reacts exactly like an ambitious ruler of a Shakespearean play—with rage and violence. For James, the extremes of method acting endanger him. In method acting, actors live as their characters even offscreen. James takes this approach so far that he loses his own self. He begins to act like Edmund in Lear, hurtling towards that character’s tragic fate (Edmund dies at the end of the play).