Meet Chris Roe
Actor playing Hamlet in BAMA Theatre Company‘s HAMLET

$5 Tickets to HAMLET at FringeNYC

What’s next on your Netflix queue?

In my DVD Queue: Deadwood Season 1.  In my instant queue: The Office

What’s playing on your  iPod right now?

Right at this very moment Bjork is playing, but I’ve been listening to a mixture of music recently, from Beethoven to Trent Reznor.

Last good book you read was…?

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I read it a few months before I had to put my dog to sleep last year, so it resonated a lot.

Your favorite restaurant in the city is…?

Community Food and Juice on the Upper West Side (I happen to work there too!).  Best pizza place is Sunnyside Pizza in Queens.

All-time, hands-down favorite piece of theater:

I’m actually pretty partial to Hamlet, but seeing August: Osage County at Steppenwolf in Chicago felt as though I was experiencing a new piece of theatre history. Recently I saw Mark Rylance in Jerusalem; wonderful piece of theatre as well.

What’s the best thing about FringeNYC?

There is a wonderful sense of community and support with the Fringe Festival.  So many artists coming together over the course of a few weeks to present what it is that they do best.  It’s a wonderful showcase for all that theatre has to offer.

What’s the #1 reason people should come see your show?

We take Shakespeare back to the basics; 8 actors, one trunk, and no set, which allows us to present his plays clearly, simply, and specifically. There isn’t anything to get in the way of the language and the relationship between the audience and the BAMA players.  The show is raw, and bursting with energy and emotion.  We really love what we do and the ensemble of actors we get to share the stage with every night.  That energy becomes rather contagious, and you’ll truly be able to hear Hamlet for the first time, even if you’ve heard it 100 times before. We promise.

Do you have any opening-night rituals? 

Nothing too crazy – just making sure I’m all stretched out, warmed up, and focused as can be. And listening to music. Lots and lots of music.

What are the craziest performance conditions you’ve had to work under?

I’d say performing The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Abridged outdoors in the middle of an Indiana summer with 95 degree heat mixed with 100% humidity; my dressers back stage had to literally tug and peel my sweaty costumes off my body during quick changes! I also swallowed a lot of bugs when I was saying my lines.  Either that or my last year of graduate school at The Alabama Shakespeare Festival.  I was playing leading roles in The Comedy of Errors and The Three Musketeers while understudying Iago in Othello.  I still don’t know how I remembered all of that at the same time!

How did you get involved with the arts?

I acted a lot all through my childhood, but it wasn’t until high school where I really got serious.  My first role was playing The Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of OZ. (I still have it on VHS!). I then caught what we called “the theatre bug.” I was drawn into the community of people, the hard work, self-expression, and imagination that theatre offers.  The things I learned from the theatre back in high school still stick with me today: work ethic and using my imagination are two driving forces I incorporate not only in my theatre work, but in life as well.