Meet Elizabeth Burke, if you don't know her already, you really should!
She's our longest standing ensemble member, best known for her work in Rising Sun's productions of Hellcab & The Crucible, she's been with the company since 2004.
Meet: Elizabeth Burke
Q: How long have you been involved with Rising Sun
Performance Company?
A: Since 2004 I believe. When I was but a child.
Q: What is your primary role with RSP?
A: I'm an actor, an ACTOR.
A: Since 2004 I believe. When I was but a child.
Q: What is your primary role with RSP?
A: I'm an actor, an ACTOR.
Q: Why is RSP your artistic home?
A: Because there is a level of community and support that is very difficult to find in NYC theater. Here, theater companies come and go, so to be involved with the same group for 8 years is pretty great. I even left for a few years to work on a political campaign and was welcomed back with open arms. Like family! I think that there is a safety that is created during rehearsals which allows an actor to feel free to explore their boundaries. That safety lends itself to creative thinking and risk taking I might not find as just an actor in a random play with a random theater company. It's the sense that we are all here for the same end, to stretch our abilities, to take risks, to freely speak up in the creative process and be able to have an actual impact on our art.
A: Because there is a level of community and support that is very difficult to find in NYC theater. Here, theater companies come and go, so to be involved with the same group for 8 years is pretty great. I even left for a few years to work on a political campaign and was welcomed back with open arms. Like family! I think that there is a safety that is created during rehearsals which allows an actor to feel free to explore their boundaries. That safety lends itself to creative thinking and risk taking I might not find as just an actor in a random play with a random theater company. It's the sense that we are all here for the same end, to stretch our abilities, to take risks, to freely speak up in the creative process and be able to have an actual impact on our art.
Q: What was your favorite RSP Show or Role? Why?
A: Oh wow, playing Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible was so challenging. I loved being able to tell this love story of 2 real people caught up in a nightmare of lies and fear of that very specific time in our history instead of simply playing out the witchcraft story.(I really think this play is a love story and I'm sticking with that.) I loved finding out more about John and Elizabeth and understanding why they loved each other so much. This tough love is what makes John's betrayal and ultimate imprisonment and death so terrible and pointless. I also loved playing a psychopath in the one-act "Tell Me You Love Me", part of Hotel Suite. Being able to play such a deranged person who, on the surface, has no redeeming value. I liked the challenge of getting the audience on my side even as I tried to kill my husband with an axe. By the end of the play I have the audience’s sympathy while the man I am trying to kill has none, and that was remarkable. It was finding the subtle choices, believing in her humanity and finding out what drove her to make such extreme choices that made me want this play to continue as a full length. There is so much more to her story and I want to know it!
A: Oh wow, playing Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible was so challenging. I loved being able to tell this love story of 2 real people caught up in a nightmare of lies and fear of that very specific time in our history instead of simply playing out the witchcraft story.(I really think this play is a love story and I'm sticking with that.) I loved finding out more about John and Elizabeth and understanding why they loved each other so much. This tough love is what makes John's betrayal and ultimate imprisonment and death so terrible and pointless. I also loved playing a psychopath in the one-act "Tell Me You Love Me", part of Hotel Suite. Being able to play such a deranged person who, on the surface, has no redeeming value. I liked the challenge of getting the audience on my side even as I tried to kill my husband with an axe. By the end of the play I have the audience’s sympathy while the man I am trying to kill has none, and that was remarkable. It was finding the subtle choices, believing in her humanity and finding out what drove her to make such extreme choices that made me want this play to continue as a full length. There is so much more to her story and I want to know it!
Q: What are you looking forward to seeing/ experiencing with
RSP?
A: More great concepts like Hotel Suite, a site specific show. I have not seen this very often in NYC theater and doing it in a non-theater space was amazing. I do want to do more heavy duty pieces like a few we have currently under consideration and this is the company with the balls to do it. I also can't wait to re-start the creative process in writing a new play Henry's Wives.
A: More great concepts like Hotel Suite, a site specific show. I have not seen this very often in NYC theater and doing it in a non-theater space was amazing. I do want to do more heavy duty pieces like a few we have currently under consideration and this is the company with the balls to do it. I also can't wait to re-start the creative process in writing a new play Henry's Wives.
Q: What are you excited about for Season 12?
A: Everything! I can't wait to continue working on Henry's Wives, re-mounting Hell Cab for Christmas (because this is SUCH a Christmas story) and I am really excited for our Fall Mainstage show even though I don't know what it is yet!
A: Everything! I can't wait to continue working on Henry's Wives, re-mounting Hell Cab for Christmas (because this is SUCH a Christmas story) and I am really excited for our Fall Mainstage show even though I don't know what it is yet!
Q: How have you seen the ensemble, including yourself,
evolve?
A: Yes, I have seen RSP grow into a mature company and as one of the older companies in Indy theater , we have been intimately involved with the growth of NYC's Indie theater community. We have more staff now, including a Literary Manager and our student internships have been a benefit to us as well as the students. I have evolved as an actor I think! I also like the idea of producing more interesting and disturbing original works. But then, I'm not one for pretty plays with pretty people.
A: Yes, I have seen RSP grow into a mature company and as one of the older companies in Indy theater , we have been intimately involved with the growth of NYC's Indie theater community. We have more staff now, including a Literary Manager and our student internships have been a benefit to us as well as the students. I have evolved as an actor I think! I also like the idea of producing more interesting and disturbing original works. But then, I'm not one for pretty plays with pretty people.
Q: What do you do outside of RSP?
A: I write a regular political blog "Burke's Law" on the www.ClydeFitcheport.com website. Go, click, read, comment. I have been politically active for years working on many campaigns as well as producing large scale events. But now I work full time as Sr. Coordinator, Global Strategies for Cardiovascular Research Foundation. It's time to settle down to a real job so I can act more.
A: I write a regular political blog "Burke's Law" on the www.ClydeFitcheport.com website. Go, click, read, comment. I have been politically active for years working on many campaigns as well as producing large scale events. But now I work full time as Sr. Coordinator, Global Strategies for Cardiovascular Research Foundation. It's time to settle down to a real job so I can act more.
Q: Favorite Memory or experience in RSP?
A: Well, it may go back to the first play I did with them, the Ghost of Greenbriar County. The whole premise of the piece is ridiculous especially since the writer has become some sort of dominatrix. She also claims the story is about her family and true. But then she is a dominatrix so I won't argue. But the best part is when our space got flooded and we had only a few days to locate a new theater that could do the show and was affordable and was in Manhattan and was available. That Akia and David Anthony were able to do all those things, finding a theater and saving the show made me realize I found the right company with which to work.
A: Well, it may go back to the first play I did with them, the Ghost of Greenbriar County. The whole premise of the piece is ridiculous especially since the writer has become some sort of dominatrix. She also claims the story is about her family and true. But then she is a dominatrix so I won't argue. But the best part is when our space got flooded and we had only a few days to locate a new theater that could do the show and was affordable and was in Manhattan and was available. That Akia and David Anthony were able to do all those things, finding a theater and saving the show made me realize I found the right company with which to work.
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