Hi there! My name is Bits Sola. This is my first summer here at PST, and goodness me what a wild ride it has been! A recent graduate of Princeton’s class of 2015, I majored in Italian with a certificate in Theater. I'm so very excited to be a part of the team here at PST.
Working on Pygmalion over the past couple of weeks has been a blur of dialect coaching and costume skirts, with laughs and hard work going into each and every rehearsal. A total change of pace from our ensemble piece Metamorphoses, this show has caused us to live in a different kind of theater space.
Pygmalion is a play of intellect and ideas: the characters are as much representatives of a way of life, of a socio-economic class, as they are individuals in their own right. Of course, to some degree all characters in all plays must be a combination of both idea and human being in order to be accessible; human beings are products of situations and interactions, but Shaw tells the story of English society in a uniquely poignant manner. Perhaps the most important part of this process has been trying to understand the delicate balance between caricature and reality, between the superficial differences and those that run more deeply, from one character to the next.
And what is there to say about the boisterous and enigmatic Eliza Doolittle? I've certainly had my hands full these past two weeks working to decipher the inner life of this complex woman. So far I’ve found the process to be hugely fulfilling and challenging, on both an emotional and intellectual level. Luckily I've had the whole team here to help me, and I am confident this ensemble will be able to tell yet another dynamic story on stage over the next few weeks.
Do come along, governors!
-Bits
