Dramatist and Emory sophomore J'Dyn Plater talks inclusion, community, and stepping into other worlds through her passion: theatrical art.
First off, tell us about yourself! Where are you from? What year are you at Emory? What are you studying? What kind of art do you make?
Hi! My name is J’Dyn Plater, I was born and raised in Seattle, WA and have pretty much been there ever since. I am currently a second year working towards a double major in theater studies and anthropology and human biology. In terms of the kind of art that I make, I have been doing theater—particularly staged plays and monologues—since I was 7 years old, and I can say with 100% certainty that it is one of my biggest passions. I’ve always been heavily involved in local, community theater as well as many school productions.
When did you start performing? What drew you to theatrical art?
I started performing around the time I turned 7 and have been ever since. My first performance was with a small local theater company here in Seattle called, “Stone Soup Theater,” and we were putting on a production of Beauty and the Beast in which I played the ever so prominent role of “mirror #3”. I think the biggest thing that attracted me to theatrical art was the sense of community that comes with being a part of an ensemble or cast; knowing that you’re coming together with people who love doing what they do in order to create something bigger than yourself has always been really fascinating and rewarding for me. I also love the idea of getting to step outside yourself and explore characters and worlds that you may not get to in reality.
What do you love most about dramatic performance art? Something I personally love about dramatic performance art is the idea of getting to step outside yourself and explore characters and worlds that you may not get to experience in your own reality. Along with that, I think getting to portray or perform aspects of everyday life for people that may be more underrepresented or pushed aside is super important; that kind of inclusion and being able to see yourself on stage in roles you can personally relate to is something I find imperative for every single person to be able to have access to and experience. For example, I took part in something called the August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) in which we performed different monologues from various plays written by August Wilson. August Wilson is an African American playwright who wrote a cycle of 10 plays taking place over 10 different decades in the 1900s, portraying the African American experience. From my time participating in the AWMC (3 years total), I found a sense of community working with Black artists and creating art written by and for Black people that I hadn’t experienced in a theater setting before.
Who or what inspires you?
I draw a lot of my inspiration from artists within the theater community such as actors Mahershala Ali, Michaela Coel, and Maya Erskine. I also gain a lot of my creative insight from my peers that I work with in different shows on both Emory’s campus as well as local Seattle theater.
How has COVID-19 impacted your creative process, if at all?
While COVID-19 has impacted live theater performances and the way people traditionally think of dramatic arts, I have been very shocked and pleasantly surprised about the other ways in which people have come together to still create a theater experience. For example, a lot of production companies have been using Zoom for their shows and have been producing performances that way. I also recently listened to an amazing podcast production of Richard II through the New York Public Radio where, instead of watching people act out the scenes, the audience was able to listen to them instead. I personally really miss live theater productions, as I think that this certain form of performances is a quite a special experience. However, I have really gained a lot from other forms of performance art such as Zoom theater and podcast theater, in ways that are completely different but equally as rewarding.
What are your goals for your performances? What message do you hope to convey?
For me, it’s always about connecting with the audience in some way. If the audience is able to take something away from the performance, that is a-ok with me; whether they just simply have a good time or gain something profound from the experience, I just hope they leave with anything that makes them feel or think in a way that maybe they hadn’t before coming to the performance.
How do you stay involved in performance art as a student at Emory?
I really love participating in performance art here at Emory! I think that there are so many opportunities here if you want to be a part of an on-campus production whether it is student-led theater or working with Theater Emory. So far, I have done a couple shows through Theater Emory, and I am also taking mandatory courses for the major, so I’ve been really involved that way as well. Outside of campus work, since it’s harder to do live theater in a global pandemic, I have participated in a few Zoom shows through a local Seattle theater company called Brown Soul Productions, and I have been having a lot of fun with that.
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