Becoming Miranda: An Interview with Actress Sheyenne Javonne Brown (by Dyandra and Loylia)

Two interviews for the price of one! Both Dyandra and Loylia sat down with Sheyenne and spoke to her about her playing Miranda in THE TEMPEST. Both girls found that while Miranda may traditionally be played as a sheltered and perhaps vulnerable character, this actress had different ideas for her! 

First up, DYANDRA:

I had the chance to sit down with the lovely Sheyenne Javonne Brown before a recent rehearsal for THE TEMPEST. Sheyenne plays Miranda. I was initially scared to interview her, but that was put to ease as I saw how calm, down to earth and nice she is. I also learned that she is a Bronx native and got to meet her adorable newborn son.

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member, Dyandra

I asked her about if and how her background in teaching helps her understand Shakespeare better.  She says that she doesn't know if it helps her understanding, but it did help her take more risks. (Since as a teacher, she says she has a script, and she does role-plays and creative projects.)

I was curious as to what some of her challenges were in trying to become Miranda. She told me that they were still in the beginning processes. But she is trying to resist the wide-eyed teenage girl stereotype because she personally feels Miranda as a character is smarter than that, and does not want her to be portrayed as solely that kind of girl.

Sheyenne Javonne Brown, the actress playing

Miranda in the Young Company's 

production of THE TEMPEST.

I wanted to know if knowing the other characters helped her play Miranda better. She answered yes. She creates her backstory based on how she interacts around other characters. She explained to me that in her backstory, since her mother Prospera is a duchess and knows power, she teaches Miranda to be more of a feminist. She also talks about how Miranda will see how she feels about Ferdinand suggesting that he’s been with a lot of women! 

I talked to her about how she is going to play Miranda different from other productions of THE TEMPEST. She told me that she is playing her a bit more sassier.  She’s playing her as very powerful and intelligent. She feels as though in other productions she is played as naive. Sheyenne feels like she is a boss and very direct.  She knows what she wants.

Lastly I asked Sheyenne what she liked and disliked about Shakespeare. She likes that there are certain women characters who are strong but ok with vulnerability. She says that she even worked on a monologue for a whole year because she loved it that much. She says that she doesn’t really dislike anything. But she doesn’t really enjoy the scanning and antithesis because she’s never really that confident in those things!

Next up, LOYLIA:

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Member, Loylia

Getting the opportunity to observe several of the actors practice memorizing their lines and plan out scenes has given me the chance to take in a few tips and ideas about ways that I could also practice for a production. During the observation, I noticed the actors taking their time to read their lines. That way the true meaning of what’s being said captures the audience's attention, and gives them a clearer understanding of why they're saying what they’re saying.

Sheyenne, as Miranda (left) with fellow cast members

Ethan Nguyen, as Ferdinand and

Ito Aghayere as Prospera (back right).

After the observation, I had the chance to interview Sheyenne, who plays Miranda in the production. Miranda is a gentle and compassionate character who doesn’t have that much exposure to the world, being that her father, Prospero, and his slave, Caliban, are the only two men she’s seen in her lifetime. Because of this, Miranda is pretty much unaware of the danger that may surround her and it causes me to personally believe that she’s extremely vulnerable.

Finding out in the interview that Sheyenne is a mother, I asked her how she manages to make time for rehearsals and practice and her response was that she just does it. It’s complicated at times but if you really want to do something, you commit and just do it. 

I also asked what it’s like for her to play a role such as Miranda and if she notices any similarities or differences between them. Her response was pretty much that any role would have been difficult; that Miranda is different from Sheyenne but you just have to learn to become the character and play with it a little. Take risks.