Salima Chadly as Tirasol

Salima Chadly, a junior theatre major who was born in Casablanca and raised in France, is excited to be playing the role of Tirasol. Initially, she found the play a challenge as the language, style of writing and world of the play were unfamiliar to her. But the collaborative process of rehearsal and a thorough study of her character helped her develop a performance of Tirasol that she is eager to share with an audience.

On the Collaborative Process

The cast of Alchemy/Blues spent some time together over the summer to get acquainted with each other and the world of the play. They watched movies such as Eve's Bayou that helped acquaint them with the landscape and culture of the bayou. Since Chadly had no previous exposure to this area of the United States, the information about the bayou helped shed light on the world of the play. She explains: "I understand now. When you talk about spirits it is a completely different feeling when you are in the forest with this water. It can be very calm but underneath it is so powerful. This whole environment is very powerful. It really helped me to understand why I was saying these things and where I come from. They know it is dangerous, but they live there everyday."

The rest of the cast members were helpful to her in another way as well. She tried to understand her character before rehearsals started, but had trouble discovering the character on her own "because Tirasol is really part of the community and without it I was nothing. So my process started with rehearsal time when we all were together. Most of the time, my responses are towards Caroline. I am nothing until she's here. I found Tirasol through Selah, Miranda, and Caroline."

On Playing Tirasol

In Tirasol, Chadly discovered an anxious character that " wants to get things done as soon as possible. She wants to do something and she can't stand the fact that Simone can't let go and Simone is not doing anything." Chadly believes that Tirasol's frantic activity and her complete frustration with Simone's process of grieving is based in some fundamental fears. The actor explains, "The fact that Simone can't let go of Jamie makes her think of all the people that she has lost and she doesn't want to do that."

The source of much of Chadly's insight about the character is the verbal imagery in the play. Chadly observed that her character "has beautiful imagery about phantoms, death and spirits. She knows what' she talking about. She knows about spirits and sees them. She sees 'howls of widows crumpling against the skin of the water.' The imagery makes you understand where she came from and why she cannot let go." Chadly sees the poetic imagery in the play as central to her character's condition in the world: "That's probably the only thing she has left ­ words."

But the language also presented her with some challenges. Since English is not her first language, Chadly had to spend extra time exploring the meaning of the poetry in the play. She also worked to achieve some flavor of the southern dialect that she felt was appropriate to the play's setting.

Chadly had an easier time discovering a physical performance appropriate to the character. She worked with a very quick pace and grounded quality, keeping in mind that Tirasol is "a worker. She works all the time."

On the Play

Chadly appreciates the way that the play depicts the theme of death: "It's about death, but it's very ironic and I like the fact that they are playing with that idea. It was very interesting to see how she approached that idea. It's very creepy and I like that. It's not something that I am used to. I am used to Moliere and Chekhov and this is very strange and there is something very magical. Something that takes you away from reality." She thinks it is the type of play that audience members will continue discussing long after the performance. Chadly admires the ways in which the play presents a variety of perspectives on death. She explains, "I want people to say. Wow. Maybe she's right. Maybe she needs to come close to the fire to find out that life is important."