Sarah Sugg (VI), sitting on her toy chest as the character “Lucy”
Sarah Sugg (IV) has been acting since she was ten years old. She has been in a myriad of Middle School shows, but most recently played roles in the Upper School’s Landscape of the Body, Killers, and Godspell. She also helped with costumes in Mr. Burns: a Post-Electric Play. Her latest show was the Studio Theatre Series Production, Mr. Marmalade.
Mr. Marmalade is a dark comedy written in 2004 by Noah Haidle. Sugg plays the lead Lucy, a four-year-old girl who has an imaginary friend named Mr. Marmalade.
“I act because I enjoy taking on roles aside from myself and learning about different shows,” Sugg said. “I find acting really fun and I‘ve found that attempting to become a role is a really good way to forget about anything stressful in my own life and to just focus on that character’s issues.” She added, “I really love the whole community of actors, techies, and directors. I’ve made so many friends that I never would have known had I not been in shows. I also find that whenever I am cast in a show, I am able to speak in class without feeling intimidated because acting involves a lot of public speaking.”
As an actress, Sugg feels that she “is responsible for adding quirks to that character, and digging deeper into the mind of whomever they are attempting to embody.” As soon as she is given a role, Sugg tries to understand her character and their personality better. Ever since she was cast as Lucy, she has, “…tried to learn a lot about what it’s like to be a four-year-old girl. Me and Milena Sigerson (III), who plays a series of roles in Mr. Marmalade, one of them being Lucy’s mom, are supposed to go to the park and see how kids interact with their parents this weekend, which I hope will give us a lot of insight to our roles! I find it super helpful to try my best to understand any character I’m cast as.”
There are a few drawbacks, though. For example, the auditioning process is generally stressful for many actors and actresses. “I’ve tried out for shows and been cut, barely had a role, or just disliked the play I’m a part of, but I’ve never regretted auditioning for anything,” Sugg added. “Even if the show is not one I like, I usually end up having fun in it anyway. I like to try out for everything because it’s really good to get experience auditioning, despite the disappointments. Mr. Marmalade is such an interesting show to be doing and I’m so glad that I tried out for it! Rehearsal is always the best part of my day.”
Sugg says she will consider a career in acting in later years, and she would also like to “experiment with other aspects of theater as well, such as directing and film.” Aside from theater, Sugg likes to spend time filmmaking, drawing, singing, “attempting to play guitar,” and watching Friends.
If she were to identify herself as a cookie Sugg said, “I would be a frosted animal cookie with sprinkles because they’re a kind of awkward unique cookie that’s just chilling and doing their thing.”
