Connor Bond- Guest Blogger
Ashdown as Prince Hal & Bond as Edward Poins. Photo by Karl Hugh
We have many new faces to our acting company this year and one of them includes Connor Bond. He will be in Henry IV Part 1 as Poins and inSense and Sensibility as Robert Ferrars. Below are his comments on being at the Festival for the first time.
What brought you to Utah Shakespeare Festival?
This is my first time at the Festival, but I heard from so many fellow actors what a wonderful place it was to work. It’s been amazing getting to actually work here. The community is awesome. I was reminded what a small world it is coming here because I already knew a few people in the ensemble before I even got here, including three classmates from my recently graduated MFA class.
What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I started out as a jazz musician, playing tenor saxophone, and then decided I wanted my practicing to be in a community creating a piece, instead of alone in my room most of the day. I still play saxophone a lot, especially in productions, but acting provided a technique I could develop through myself and not through an outside instrument.
Where’s your home base?
I am originally from Portland, Oregon. The great Northwest!
What’s your education/training background?
I got my BA in drama and minor in music from the University of Portland and then immediately went on to get my MFA in acting from the University of California, Irvine.
What are you looking forward to the most this summer?
I’m most looking forward to being outside. Riding my bike, going on hiking adventures, and of course acting outside on the Adams. There is something supremely fulfilling and wholly connective about performing theatre (especially Shakespeare) out in wind, sky and trees that reminds you why you started acting in the first place.
Who/What inspired you to pursue your dream of acting/designing?
My family was probably my biggest influence. My mother was always pushing us to be apart of productions from a young age and my father is a videographer for Oregon Public Broadcasting, so I grew up in a television studio essentially.
What is your favorite musical/play/Shakespeare play?
My all-time favorites areJesus Christ Superstar,**Waiting for GodotandJulius Caesar.
What is your dream role?
I have many, but a big one is Brutus in Julius Caesar.
What is your dream show to design/craft?
I would love to one day direct The Creation of the World and Other Business by Arthur Miller.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I would want to be able to change the laws of gravity. I actually created this superhero as a comic book character. He had ancestry to Sir Isaac Newton.
