The Kravis Center will be presenting the play 'Four Children' from March 25-26 at Rinker Playhouse. 'Four Children' features the first person accounts of four young writers who lived during the Holocaust and genocides in Armenia, Cambodia and Sarajevo.
Three of the actors who will perform in the play discuss their roles and process.
Sasha Arango will read from the diary of Nadja Halilbegovich, who survived the four year genocide in Sarajevo that began in 1992. Brendan Eldom Byrne shares the first person account of Vahram Dadrian, who was forced into exile from war-torn Armenia in 1915. The memoir of Chanrithy Him, who lived through the terrible reign of the Khmer Rouge and the 1970s genocide in Cambodia, is brought to life by actress Kimberly Milan Lucien.
Attending theater productions and Broadway was a family tradition for Brendan Eldom Byrne, who grew up in New York. Musicals were his favorite and he cites West Side Story as the production that influenced his life the most.
Brendan Eldom Byrne will portray Vahram Dadrian from Armenia. Photo provided by Four Children Play.
For actress Sasha Arango, she found the artform in middle school. She discovered her niche of connecting with others and a form of expression during her childhood years.
“I have always been compelled by storytelling and the ability to bring strangers together in one room to experience live art,” she said.
Sasha Arango will read from the diary of Nadja Halilbegovich from Sarajevo. Photo provided by Four Children Play.
When it came to preparing for the audition, Kimberly Milan Lucien had a repeating process until she was off book for the female monologues. Afterwards, she worked on developing the character of Chanrithy and thought about each line she said.
Initially, Lucien approached her monologue with a thrilled and excited tone until she realized that a major shift occurs with Chanrithy because of an unexpected event.
"I added layers to the character and what I thought a child her age would feel as well.” Lucien said.
Kimberly Milan Lucien will portray Chanrithy Him from Cambodia. Photo provided by Four Children Play.
When Sasha Arango read the published diary of Nadja, Arango learned of her personality through her writing and drawings. As Nadja grows, she develops a different form of expression which helped Arango understand Nadja’s mindset through the traumatic time she lived.
Byrne was drawn to the play because he enjoys conversations about history and the contents in 'Four Children' share a perspective that is not often told from this particular vantage point.
His preparation started with repetitive reads of the entire play from beginning to end and followed with research on terms, locations and vocabulary he needed more context about. He watched documentaries and movies on the topic of genocide.
He is honored to be a part of 'Four Children' and hopes that the audience is as moved as he was when first reading the script. Byrne outlines that there is a lot happening in the world—like in Ukraine right now--- and the effects of genocide still exist today.
“All I can really bring to the role I have in the play is to be completely open and to allow the words on the page to speak through me,” he said.
For Lucien, the most challenging part about performing this play was hearing the trauma these children and their family had gone through in detail.
“This is not a story. These are true events and all these things actually happened. It’s mind boggling,” she said.
As for the most difficult aspect of this performance for Byrne is the depth of the words. Sometimes as he read the diaries out loud the depth and meaning of the words really hit him in an unexpected way.
“I think it's one thing to read about genocide, it’s another thing to read the words written by survivors of genocide,” he said.
Lucien's advice for young performers is the only limits that you would have are the ones that you would put on yourself. There is nothing too big you can do. If you want to be an actor she recommends to study acting and if you want to be a singer, she suggests training your vocals.
"Learn your craft, do it well and never ever stop. Dreams do come true," she said.
Arango mentioned that the work of an actor is never done, there is always an opportunity to learn and share a story.
Byrne suggests that aspiring performers internalize the script as best as possible so that the performance can be as in the moment as possible. He describes it as a life changing experience and an honor to have these stories told through your performance.
Arango learned through her role that the resilience of the human is incredible, through any circumstances the will to fight for your life is unwavering if you just have faith. Her character, Nadja experienced heart wrenching events in her youth, but her resilience and humility never left her.
Byrne noted there is so much we can learn from the past so that history doesn't repeat itself. The quality he loved most about Vahram Dadrian, the young boy whose diary he read from Armenia is that he is more than a character, he is a real person, "full of humanity with a story to tell."
“As an actor our job is to tell stories through the characters we play. I am absolutely humbled to help bring light to the truth of the story of a real human being who was a survivor of one of humanity's darkest times,” he said.
Tickets start at $35. Photo provided by Four Children Play.