By Terilyn Chen
Hercules High School junior Benjamin Nathaniel Garcia has found a new interest: theater.
Though not in the actual theater class at HHS, Garcia starred in his first play, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream last November. He played the character Demetrius opposite of HHS junior Rosemary Anderson, who played the other half of the famous couple, Helena.
“When I found out I was one of the main characters, I was kind of scared,” Garcia said, “I didn’t know if I’d be able to remember all the lines and be capable of acting well enough to portray Demetrius.”
Garcia decided to audition for the part of Demetrius because of the positive impression left on him by the 1999 film version of the play, starring Christian Bale as Demetrius.
“I also liked Demetrius’s character of being a jerk and a macho man,” Garcia said.
Next, Garcia will be appearing at the HHS Outrageous Musical Gala (OMG) on Feb. 11. Later on in the year, he will be performing in the musical BAT BOY.
Garcia’s favorite part of theater had to do with the social interaction. “I got to meet new friends and bond with them, and also get in touch with myself more, while portraying an interesting character.”
Even when asked about his least favorite part of theater, Garcia only lamented not being able to perform as much as he had liked. “There were only 4 showings,” Garcia said, “while the musicals have at least 6 or 7. All those hard hours of work and only 4 showing to show the results. That was kind of a disappointment.”
The actor first auditioned because he “thought it’d be fun and a worthwhile experience to be in a play.”
Looks like he got exactly that.
