Character Breakdown: PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC Cast Unpacks Their Roles
May 16, 2024
In this video, watch as the cast of Prayer for the French Republic on Broadway unpacks their roles!
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0:00
She is such a controlling, wonderfully accomplished person who is grappling with a lot of fear and anxiety and a growing world situation that is forcing her to make a decision that she doesn't want to make
0:27
So the fiercest part of her and the most delicate part of her coexist
0:32
and she has a different relationship with everybody in the play, her husband, her brother, her son, her father, her daughter
0:39
it's just, it gives you so many facets to dig into of your instrument
0:46
It's fantastic. And for you, sir. Well, I mean, what I love about Patrick is that it starts really with his heart
0:55
has completely broken. He's completely, everything that he thought was true is not true, and it's blown up
1:02
And he has to, he's the play for, he's trying to figure out how to put it all back together and figure it out
1:07
And that incredible relationship that we all have, if we're lucky enough to have siblings, is what is that
1:13
How do brothers and sisters need each other or not? And how do we get in each other's way
1:18
And ultimately, who do you have in the end of the day? Other than family whether you make it up or you lucky enough to have it I play Irma the mother the great great of the other family
1:33
the other descendants in the play. And she just is strong and asks questions that she feels need to be asked in the room
1:46
and wants answers. So she's strong. I play a dog. We're husband and wife
1:53
I'm the father. Well, it's slightly complicated, but I'm the father of almost
1:58
father or grandfather of somebody else in the play. But Adolf is quiet
2:02
but he has this very strong moral core. And also he has this
2:07
what I think of as a kind of strain of optimism, if I dare say
2:12
which is an, actually is a moral choice, I think, especially in the world that he lives in
2:18
that he resides in. And it's very powerful to me. And I love the character, and that's why I love doing it
2:27
I play Lucien Salomon, who is a father, first and foremost, a son, a business owner
2:37
and a survivor of some horrible things. And my love for my family is the thing that drives me forward
2:47
Yeah so that kind of my whole thing I played Young Pierre the younger version of the talented Richard Masser here And Young Pierre is like Ari said he just experienced some really terrible things
3:02
some things that a 15-year-old should never have to and probably never does experience in their lifetime
3:10
And you get to see sort of like how he processes his emotions alongside his family
3:14
And it's a really beautiful thing to experience and watch. And I'm the worn-out desiccated version of this one, who's had a very long life and who is the sion of the family and who everybody is kind of afraid of because they don't know what he's going to do, what he's going to say, how he's going to react to things, and ends up telling the story on which the entire play is based
3:48
And it's a lovely, lovely piece to be involved with on any level, but especially to be kind of the, it's not quite the button on the end, but almost the button on the end
4:03
And I'm very grateful to be here. I play Elity Benamow. I share a last name with her
4:08
So she feels like home to me. She's the daughter in the family
4:14
She has a very kind of interesting relationship with her mother They very combative for lack of a better word But there a lot of love there And I think the whole family really loves each other
4:27
You can't fight well if you don't love each other. Totally. Who do you play
4:31
I played Charles Benamu, who is an Algerian Jew who's in France
4:38
And he's El-Didi's father, Marcel's husband. Even-keeled. Yes, he's sort of... He's sort of the, yeah, he's kind of an anchor at points early in the play
4:49
and he's grappling with what to do in a time where his family feels like they're not safe
5:00
So I play Molly, who is the distant cousin of the Benamoo family
5:04
She's the one American in the play. She's studying abroad in France. And she, you know, spends some time in Paris and gets to know these distant relatives
5:14
and learns a lot in the process, grows a lot in the process. It's a fun role to play
5:19
Who do you play in what you love about him already in the rehearsal? I play Daniel Benamu
5:24
He's the youngest son of the Benamu Quartet. And I mean, like, what I love about rehearsing with Daniel specifically, I guess
5:34
is like the whole play is a constant re-evaluation of perspective. And so every time we rehearsed, it's sort of fun to just pick a new one
5:41
and see if it is more fun than the last one. Yeah
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