From Brit life to Pitt’s stage

Gemma L. Crabtree plays a mentally retarded sister in Pitt Rep’s “Dancing at Lughnasa.” But… Gemma L. Crabtree plays a mentally retarded sister in Pitt Rep’s “Dancing at Lughnasa.” But she’ll never tell you that disparagingly.

“Rose is one of the five sisters, and it’s been an interesting role to take on because she’s described by the playwright, Brian Friel, as being ‘simple,'” Crabtree says. “It’s difficult to portray being handicapped without making myself look like a little girl.”

Upon meeting her, Crabtree firmly shakes my hand and waits patiently as I scour the Cathedral lobby for a quiet place to sit. It’s hard not to take her seriously when she speaks so maturely and seems genuinely interested in other people’s feelings.

Crabtree’s general likeability might have something to do with how worldly she is. Last August, she packed her bags and said goodbye to her family as she left England to study at Pitt for a year as a foreign exchange student. Where in England?

“I’ve lived everywhere,” she says.

The University of Wales, where she attends school, is located in Aberystwyth, which is very rural – “not at all like Pittsburgh.” And her hometown, Halifax, offers similar surroundings: “I look out my window and see fields and fields and fields, but if I drive 10 minutes I’m in the town center.”

In addressing the difference between American and British lifestyles, Crabtree says, “It’s hard for me to say now, but I’ve had a much bigger culture shock than I expected.” She’s been in the States for eight months now and says, “I’ve almost forgotten the differences.”

As for differences in acting across the Atlantic Ocean, Crabtree thinks acting methods, like the Stanislavski Method, are practiced pretty much the same universally. Still, she says she’s been “taught an awful lot more here [than in England].”

Naturally, Crabtree has only good things to say about the play’s director, Holly Thuma, the cast and working on such a great show. As for getting into character, Crabtree says, “Holly took us through the process gradually-she helped us understand the characters.”

Talking with Crabtree is like taking a crash course in caring: She is keenly aware of people’s feelings. For instance, when identifying the most challenging aspect of her performance in “Dancing at Lughnasa,” she says, “Making it real and believable because this is real life. It could have been a real story. [The characters] feel happiness, feel pain, feel sadness – they do.”

Or when asked what she wants from the audience, she simply states: “I want the audience to feel the joy and sadness of each character.”

Crabtree plays one of the five sad sisters, Rose. “None of the sisters are happy, they’re not happy people. They have no money and they work like donkeys,” she says.

The theater is a great place to bridge global and personal differences. That’s why it seems Crabtree may be talking about more than acting when she says, “It’s like trying to put yourself in [the characters’] position, and really believe that you are them.”

As for coming back to America in the future, what are Crabtree’s plans?

“In May I have to return to England because my visa expires – I don’t want to get deported – but I’ll definitely be back here one day. I don’t know when and I don’t know why. No, I’ll come back because I’ve made so many great friends here. I’ll come back to see them.”

“Dancing at Lughnasa” runs through April 9 in the Henry Heymann Theatre, located in the Stephen Foster Memorial. For tickets and performance details, call Pitt Rep Box Office at (412) 624-PLAY.