Artist Spotlight: Suli Holum

Over twenty years ago, an acting teacher gave me a copy of a short play called The Lollipop Project.  It was one of those plays that really stuck with me.  I was even given the author, Suli Holum’s, email address.  I never did email her, as I was way too shy at that point in my life, but that script has traveled with me all over.  I literally still have that script with Suli’s email address hand written.  This script was the start of my admiration of Suli.

I wouldn’t meet her until years later, but I was so excited for this person who had never quite left my mind.  And I discovered someone so full of talent and life and love…and so much more.  She shines on stage, and she shines off it as well.  I consider myself lucky to know her now, and to get to see her, especially on stage.  Suli is such a good person, and so very talented.  Seeing her in Witch last week was absolutely incredible.  I feel like every time I see her, she’s more and more talented.

I’m so excited to present some interview questions about Witch.  I think it might have been my favorite show I’ve ever seen her in.  Her grasp of the character Elizabeth, both by herself and with the people around her, is completely awe inspiring.  I feel like she must have worked so hard to get to this place with Elizabeth, and I was so glad we all got to see that on stage.  Suli certainly knows her art.

Elizabeth feels invisible.  How does it feel to embody that particular sensation?

It's funny.  I know from personal experience that when I realize I am invisible, it's usually a shock, like invisibility is imposed upon me, not something I choose or something I am.  So what I'm channeling for Elizabeth is more the insistence on being visible while navigating the painful and consistent shock of being dismissed/ignored.  

Even though she’s seen a lot of bad in her life, Elizabeth believes there can be change, and a different world, especially for women.  Do you think she truly has hope for the future?

I think Elizabeth is the embodiment of an impulse that is frightening, the one that says that the only hope for the future is to destroy the present.  In the end, she's ready to throw herself on the pyre for that vision.  I think that there's a lesson there, I think that if Elizabeth could feel a real human connection, she might find hope that things could get better without having to burn everything down to get there...  

Does the relationship Elizabeth forms with Scratch change how she sees the world?  If so, how did it transform her?

I think they open each other up, and its incredibly sweet, and it has a huge impact on her, but ultimately she wants more for the world than her own happiness, more for the world than just tuning out of the problems and enjoying herself. And she has this shock of revelation that she's got a full on immortal being ready to do whatever she wants, and she wants to make a real difference.  She goes from being resigned to doing nothing, to having a ferocious desire to transform everything.

Do you think Elizabeth is happy with the life she leads, or is she resigned to the fact that it’s all she can have?

I think she wears her isolation like a badge of honor, and that she is also miserable.  Both things are true. 

There’s no doubt that Elizabeth changed Scratch.  Do you think she realizes what she’s done?

I think they end with a huge rift, and I think its pretty devastating for them both, and super ironic in a really delightful way.  Like this witchy outcast is willing to sacrifice herself to change the whole world, but also she's gotten herself totally entwined with this demon, like I don't think she can really handle the fact that he loves her, she can't hold that somehow.  And he's totally rocked by that too.  I just think its such a fun turn, the wistful heartbroken little devil...It's weirdly hopeful... 

What’s up next?

I'm remounting a show with The Bearded Ladies, You Can Never Go Down the Drain-- it's also about HOPE!  And Mr. Rogers!  That goes up in June at The Wilma.  I'm also choreographing and performing in a really exciting project in Under the Radar in NYC January, Notice to Appear, that draws from transcripts of Asylum seekers in the US.  I'll also be performing in The Animal Farm Project at The Wilma in April, looking forward to playing a pig.

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I may not be the little fifteen year old being handed a script anymore, but I still admire Suli greatly.  She does so much on stage that’s just mind blowing, and you can really see her understanding of the world around her through this.  Witch was such a complex show, and she played such a part in that…you can really see her commitment to the character, and what that character brings to the world and people in this show.  I can’t wait for what’s up next!