10 Questions
Take Ten: Thomas Keegan
In this week’s Take Ten, THOMAS KEEGAN shares his love of Dickens and Stoppard, hesitant dreams of Hamlet, and the challenges of his current solo turn in Solas Nua’s production of Misterman, playing through December 9. Get the scoop and grab a ticket for this acting tour de force.
1) What was the first show you ever saw, and what impact did it have?
Well, the first play I ever saw was Henry V at The University if Delaware’s (now defunct) Professional Theatre Training Program. However, I was five years old, and spent most of the performance playing with sock puppets in the aisle, so I’m not sure that it had much impact. Two productions stand out to me, though, as having affected me early on: Sam Mendes’s production of Cabaret and Bob Falls’s Long Days Journey Into Night. Both left me breathless, and feeling, ‘I want to do THAT someday.’
2) What was your first involvement in a theatrical production?
When I was seven, I played the Ghost of Christmas Past in my grade school production of A Christmas Carol. I still love that play. It’s magic.
3) What’s your favorite play or musical, and why do you like it so much?
Probably Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. It’s a masterpiece, nearly perfect in its structure. It’s smart, funny, heartfelt, surprising, theatrical, and ambitious.
4) What’s the worst day job you ever took?
When I was 21, I took a temp job sorting microfiche. I found it on Craigslist. I’m not proud of it, but I just stopped showing up after the fifth day.
5) What is your most embarrassing moment in the theatre?
Truthfully, any time that I have offended or alienated a colleague, through my own insecurity or arrogance. The theatre is a place for compassion and kindness. I’m most embarrassed by the moments when I have failed to uphold those values.
6) What are you enjoying most about working on Misterman at Solas Nua?
I’m out there by myself, without the safety net of a scene partner. It’s a thrilling challenge to be solely responsible for telling the story, holding the audiences attention, and fully populating the world of the play. Please come see how I do. Otherwise, I’m just talking to myself!
7) Other than your significant other, who’s your dream date (living or dead) and why?
Marisa Tomei. Her performance in The Wrestler is reason enough, but there are others. :-)
8) What is your dream role/job?
“Don’t say Hamlet. Don’t say Hamlet...”
Hamlet.
Damn it!
9) If you could travel back in time, what famous production or performance would you choose to see?
I’m told by people I trust that I should wish that I had seen Mark Rylance in Jerusalem. So I do.
10) What advice would you give to an 8-year-old smitten by theatre / for a graduating MFA student?
It’s pretty much the same for both... Stay smitten. Read, listen, and dare to be different. Do your best to approach everyone with kindness. Make room for gratitude. Go out of your way for others. Admit when you’re wrong, and apologize. Dream big. Go after those dreams: your heroes were 8 years old once, too.
THOMAS KEEGAN recently performed with Ford's Theatre in Death of a Salesman, and previously appeared with them in The Glass Menagerie. Round House Theatre he appeared in Angels in America and Fool for Love. He has a previously appeared at Arena Stage in Watch on the Rhine, Signature Theatre in Dying City, Folger Theatre in Othello and The Taming of the Shrew, The Kennedy Center in Shear Madness, Constellation Theatre Company in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. The National Symphony Orchestra’s GeorgeWASHINGTON, and Beyond the Score: Mendelsohn, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in CSI: Mozart, The American Shakespeare Center in King Lear, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, Richard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Macbeth, The Changeling, Henry VI Part 1, and Cymbeline. Thomas has appeared in HBO’s Veep and as Ensign Baker in AMC’s Turn. He has appeared in and provided the voice for national and local television and radio commercials, industrial videos, and audiobooks. Thomas earned his MFA from The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University.
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