With an additional week of performances added to the Guthrie Theater’s production of To Kill A Mockingbird,”Comfort Dolo ’14 will have another week of working on Minnesota’s most well-known stage. And Dolo, a theatre/dance major from Gustavus, is happy to extend her first show at the Guthrie. Performances of Mockingbird will continue through October 25. Tickets are available at the Guthrie Box Office at guthrietheater.org.
It seems that everyone has read Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel and remembers the difficulty of discussing race relations as teenagers; these memories that are even more difficult when the story is seen through the eyes of a young person. Comfort remembered that discussion when she was preparing for her role in To Kill A Mockingbird. One of her standout memories was “the actual teaching of the story and all of the underlying themes at work.” At one point during Tom Robinson’s trial for raping a white woman, he testified that he felt sorry for the woman. “Every time I hear that line,” recalls Dolo, “I’m taken back to my high school English teacher’s, Mrs. Lori Rintala, class and I hear her voice analyzing the importance of the statement and how in that time period Robinson’s response was rather audacious seeing as white people were deemed superior and therefore not in need of a black person’s sympathy. To Kill A Mockingbird also affords the chance to compare our current state of affairs when it comes to racial justice in society to the past. The similarities between the two eras will evoke different emotions in people based on their own personal experiences, but drawing parallels is what makes this story entrancing yet gut-wrenching at the same time”
Her time at Gustavus and the department’s emphasis on social justice theatre helped her prepare and play her part in the To Kill A Mockingbird production. “I attribute my desire to continue working in the performing arts to the opportunities I earned through the Theatre & Dance Department. I not only was able to play a variety of characters but was also taught how to break down, analyze and critique material in a way that is beneficial for my own character study as well as what is portrayed to the audience.” She attributes much to her two Gustavus directors, Henry MacCarthy and Amy Seham, with whom she worked extensively on different projects and productions and calls them “not only inspiring professors but fantastic mentors as well.”
The final curtain for To Kill A Mockingbird drops on October 25. What’s next for Comfort is unknown. Like many actors, she is searching for the right auditions and the perfect monologues while planning to move forward with acting classes and other opportunities. Her agent specializes in commercial and print work and she has appeared in her first commercial. Like her run at the Guthrie with To Kill A Mockingbird, she feels any experience or exposure is a good thing. And she will have her Guthrie experience to build on. “There are so many great people, on and off stage, who have made this experience worthwhile. From playing chess and Catch Phrase backstage to getting to know each other outside of rehearsals and performances with the cast, I’m incredibly thankful to John (Miller-Stephany) for casting me in this show as well as the cast and crew who have been fun, brilliant and inspiring. They continue to remind me why I am involved in the arts in the first place.”
The Guthrie Theater’s production of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird continues through October 25. Tickets are available at the Guthrie Theater Box Office.
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