THE WAYWARD WOMEN opens March 17 at Mary’s Attic (5400 N Clark St)
JD WHIGHAM plays THE SWITZER
Q: How long have you been in Chicago?
JD: I just moved to Chicago this past August from Oklahoma City, where I got my BFA at Oklahoma City University and did theatre and film around the city. I just finished up a reading of a new play called Father, Father at Voice of the City – we actually performed on the same day as the first read-through of The Wayward Women. I came up here to get into a bigger market for the acting and start on the next chapter of my life.
Q: What can you tell us about The Swiss Messenger?
JD: I think that there is a lot of comedy in him. In particular, I think it’s funny the way he swoops in and drops all of these big bombs with what seems to be a bit of a blasé attitude. He gets a bit wrapped up in his own words and, most notably, has a bad habit of burying the lead.
Q: What experience do you have with Shakespeare? Have you got a favorite Elizabethan play? Character?
JD: While in school, I studied and worked with his plays as well as rehearsed and performed some in full. Outside of school, I worked with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park as an actor and fight choreographer, and I worked on a play of his with Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre. I don’t know that I’ve got a favorite play of his on paper – how in the world do you choose something like that?? – but I have always loved his wise-clowns like Touchstone and Feste. The quick-witted repartee and punning just brings me glee and I get a special joy seeing them work out cornerstone facts ages before the rest of the world finds out. Actually, Pinne is a great example of this.
Q: The Switzer, though a very expository role, also displays great confidence for a man of his rank, and seems perfectly comfortable both delivering long speeches and engaging in casual discourse with people of all stations. Do you relate to this character at all, or is he a complete stranger to you?
JD: I can see some of myself in the Switzer. I don’t feel reservation in communicating with people higher on the ladder than myself either. Now, of course, he must be able to communicate with people of all stations since that is his entire job, but he has a certain way of losing his way in explanation and having to regain his bearings in order to get to the point. This is something I can see in myself, as I’ll start making one point and by the end of speaking feel like I ended up somewhere else somehow.
Q: Favorite line?
JD: It has to be the terse explanation, “Thine Uncle was ever a man of appetite.” but there are plenty of gems.
Come on over and quench your appetite!
THE WAYWARD WOMEN
March 17 – April 2
Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays
7:00pm
Mary’s Attic, 5400 N Clark Street
$3 at the Door