When @saheemscene first asked me if I’d ever do Shakespeare, I gave a chuckle and an immediate “no.” Acting, theatrically? Maybe, one day. But Shakespeare? Absolutely not. I know my place! Months later, after he asked me to do Twelfth Night a second time, I considered how much growth it could foster as an artist. I didn’t realize the hardest part wasn’t going to be learning lines, but rather learning to love — big and fast and hard. Learning to open the empathy tap within a drop of a dime. Be willing to fall on my face again and again and do it with a smile and a wink. And then, right when it feels like I’m getting a handle on the language … walk away from it all. In a world where art is undervalued and the lines between real and fake are more blurred each day, live performance is the last standing barometer of artistic verisimilitude. Realness. And the love that I built for these people - that’s pretty damn real too. Thank you to the cast of Twelfth Night, Saheem, and all who came to Free Shakespeare in the Park. It was one of the best experiences of my life. You can watch it on PBS next Friday ;)