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MEDIA CONTACT: John Edward Kinzer, Director of Audience Development, 812-855-0514, jkinzer@indiana.edu

Junior Jessica Rothert Steps Into Honour' s Spotlight

By Tom Robson

Junior Jessica Rothert truly knows the highs and lows of being an undergraduate actor in a department with a graduate program. Immediately cast in Romeo and Juliet her first semester at IU, Rothert then experienced a three-semester drought, frequently making callback lists but regularly watching more experienced MFA students snatch her coveted roles. The cold streak ended last semester, when she was cast as the indomitable Lady Croom in Arcadia, but it is as the poet Honor in Honour where Rothert will truly be able to demonstrate her remarkable ability.

Rothert describes the early stages of her sabbatical from the IU mainstage as "devastating,” but quickly realized that she had the power to change her own destiny. She says, “I discovered my sophomore year that you really have to take it on yourself. You can't wait for people to cast you. You have to make your own discoveries. Instead of complaining about the fact that you're not getting cast, you need to do something about it. My sophomore year I really made the decision to be proactive.”

She branched out, venturing off-campus to appear in Julie D at the John Waldron Arts Center. She also worked on several independent projects, challenging herself with major roles in The House of Bernarda Alba and Uncle Vanya. From there she decided to push herself in one of the most difficult ways possible for an actor: a one-woman show. With the play Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt? Rothert showcased her range, as well as her own growth as a performer in the past year.

Rothert's hard work and independent work ethic impressed the department faculty, as did her commitment to her in-class work. In the spring of 2005 she was the recipient of the 2005-2006 Nota Scholl McGreevey Scholarship, a major scholarship given by Theatre and Drama Distinguished Alumnus John McGreevey, who has won Emmy, Peabody, and Christopher Awards as well as television's highest lifetime achievement award for screenwriting, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel. The recipient of Indiana University's honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, McGreevey founded the
scholarship in honor of his wife, who – like Rothert – was an IU Theatre major who acted in many productions.

Over the summer the actress immersed herself in preparation like never before, reading each of the eight plays that comprised the 2005-2006 season and focusing in on the role she most coveted: Honor. Rothert says, “This one particularly leapt out at me. The way the script is structured is very close to natural patterns of speech. There's a lot of cutting off, there's a lot of people jumping on each other's lines. The speech that is used is…not heightened. It's the way you would actually see these people speaking. I think that's the biggest thing that drew me to it, the humanity of the play. It shows something that is very close to us as Americans, divorce is very prevalent, but it focuses on the humanity of it.”

Once again at auditions Rothert found herself reading with and against actors with more experience, but her dedication and preparation paid off, as she demonstrated that she could now perform at a new level of excellence. Rothert's enthusiasm for the play transformed into excitement at the possibilities inherent in Joanna Murray-Smith's play. As she has rehearsed the play, Rothert has come to have a greater understanding of the complexities of the script: “It's not just about Honor and about how she feels being left, but it shows it from all perspectives. You see why these human beings drift towards these choices. It's not a good guy-bad guy thing, it's a human thing.”

Perhaps the most difficult challenge for Rothert in an already difficult script is playing a woman more than twice her age. When asked about playing a woman in her fifties, the actress responded: “That was probably the most terrifying thing that I thought of when I got this role. I've played old age before, but it's been mostly comical, where you're so old that everything is hidden by makeup. But with this, you're in the Wells-Metz, there's really no place to hide. You have to realize you're not going to be able to rely on makeup or broad characterizations, and it becomes more about finding out the human pieces of her and how age affects her as a human. Not making it funny, but making it honest.”

In her three years at IU thus far, Rothert has always excelled at honestly revealing her characters. Her hard-earned role in Honour promises to be her most honest performance yet.

Honour opens on Friday, February 3, with additional performances on February 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Performances will take place in the Wells-Metz Theatre, and please remember that this year all performances will begin at 7:30 PM . Ticket prices are $15.00 for adults and $13.00 for students and seniors (discounts Monday-Thursday only). STUDENT RUSH tickets are available the day of each performance; students with a valid IU I.D. may purchase any available tickets for $10 cash. Group prices are available. For ticket information, call 812-855-1103. To purchase tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at 333-9955 (for the Bloomington , Indiana area) or visit www.ticketmaster.com . For more information visit www.indiana.edu/~thtr .

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