While it might have seemed ironic to perform Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” in the middle of winter, the quality of the show was outstanding. This was in no short part because of the wonderful cast for the show, including the actor who played Lysander, Aimee Grace Wilson.
Wilson, better known as “A.G.” to most, is a junior theatre performance major and art history minor. While currently riding the wave of performing “Midsummer,” this was not their first appearance in a Winthrop production. They starred in two performances, “Precious Little” and the One Act Festival their freshman year and they were also in the play “Love Song” this year. During their sophomore year, Wilson helped stage manage and direct the One Acts performed each semester. While they currently are trying to catch their breath following the tough rehearsals for “Midsummer,” they plan on performing in a class-related show called “Cherry Orchard” as well this year.
Aside from performing, Wilson is also the president of Improv This, a club that meets every Thursday for an hour and a half of improv games. They are also the treasurer for Alpha Psi Omega, the national theatre honor society. For the previous two years, many incoming freshmen may have also seen them as one of the Orientation Leaders.
Outside of Winthrop, their most notable performance related activity is their time as a viking in the Carolina Renaissance Festival last year in Huntersville, NC.
When asked about why they chose theatre, Wilson said, “it was just the thing I had the most fun doing and the thing I think I’m the best at. Of all the hobbies, all that kind of stuff that I have, it’s what I think I do the best at and what I enjoy the most. And I’ve just had such a passion for it since I was a kid and it seems like the only fit.”
In regards to how it feels coming off a major performance weekend such as “Midsummer,” Wilson described it as “really sad, it’s sad and weird to not be doing something every single evening.” However, they went on to also say that “it feels really good, I’m very very proud of it [and] the work that we did and looking back on it, it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I think from my personal standpoint it was a really really big accomplishment. It’s a good feeling.”
With the ease they played Lysander in the play, it had to be asked how Wilson was able to get so into the character. According to them, “I always start with the text because that’s the most important part because everything I’m going to learn about the character is everything the playwright gives me.” With the text as a base, Wilson used Lysander as an example of how they expanded upon that to make the character their own, saying, “First I looked at the text and I realized that Lysander is very confident… from the way that he talks and the evidence that is given there. The biggest thing is the fact that he proposed to Hermia instead of going to Hermia’s father. So, I found out about his confidence and also about his pride in himself and I started thinking about it, so he is really confident… my first initial thought was that he leads with his chest out, but then I was thinking he is prideful, but at the same, he is very relaxed because he is like ‘let’s go get married in the woods, we don’t need to do it the correct way, we don’t need to do it in any of these special ways…’ The evidence of him being really relaxed, but also really confident led me to find out that he leads more like with his pelvis. So it gives him a relaxed [walk], but at the same time it is like ‘I know who I am. I’m proud of myself.’”
Wilson said that they “absolutely” plan to continue performing at Winthrop. In fact, they plan to start auditioning again “as soon as the possibly can.” However, their ambitions are set as high as the stage lights.
Wilson is currently “looking for something in the summer to help enhance [their] resume as a performer.” Wilson continued, saying, “I’ve been looking at a job at Carowinds, a job at Disney, a job at Universal. And I’m going to a theatre conference that is in Boston this upcoming month where I’m going to be auditioning in front of a lot of potential job offers or grad school offers, but for me I’m more focused on the jobs than grad school.”
When asked what their plans were for life after Winthrop, Wilson said, “My initial thing after Winthrop is I’m gonna stay in Rock Hill for a year and just work my butt off and get as much money as I can and then I’m planning on moving to New York and working until I can’t anymore. Basically, I’m just gonna start in New York and then I might potentially do a grad school conservatory.”
As final remarks, Wilson said, “As an artist, always support the arts and always be on the lookout for what’s happening at Winthrop, not just in the theatre department, but over in Rutledge with all the art because there’s so much culture that I think everyone at Winthrop can immerse themselves in that is surrounding art that they don’t even realize.”
Photo: Olivia Esselman/ The Johnsonian
