July 21, 2025 • 8 mins
We spoke with Actor Abuzar Farrukh about the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is actor a boozer Frock, am I saying.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
That okay, absolutely, yes, great.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I so appreciate you. He's a Capital Classics actor from
the Capitol Classics Theater Company. The Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival
is going on and he's here to tell us all
about it. It's going on from July ninth through August third.
Tell me all about the festival.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Okay, I can try my best. This is my first
time working with Capitol Classics Theater Company and they do
and this is I think their second year doing two
shows at the time, and two Shakespeare shows in repertoire.
It's called the Greater Hertford Shakespeare Festival and it's their
thirty fourth season. And you come with your family or
(00:49):
by yourself if that's fine, and you bring your blankets,
your beach chairs, and you sit outdoors and watch some Shakespeare.
And in case of green we also have like an
indoor space where we have a backup solution if it's raining.
But yeah, it's outdoor Shakespeare. And this season we're doing
(01:10):
Kinglear and Topnight.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So it's at the campus at the University of Saint
Joseph outside, but like you said, if needed they can
go inside and use the theater there. It's absolutely beautiful.
If anybody would like tickets, they can go to Capitolclassics
dot org. So you're doing two productions and you're going
to be in both of them.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yes, I am fun.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Let's start with King Lair. Who are you? And King Lear?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
In King There, I'm playing the Duke of Albany, along
with some other small party and there since King Lear
has a lot of roles, so but mostly I'll be
playing the Duke of.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Alban And for people who don't know what King learra
is about, can you give us a little bit of
a promise?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Sure? King There, I would say, for me is mostly
about family, about loyalty, and about power, about the lust
for power, and I guess in the inability to let
go of power. And I think, like a lot of audience,
I haven't actually watched it, but a lot of people
who know about Succession the TV show, it's kind of
(02:14):
inspired by King Dear, so that might be helpful to
people who are not aware of King Dear. I've never
seen a production of King Dear, so this is my
first time also doing King Bear, which I've been very
very very exciting and fun.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And what's your character?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Like, what's my character? Like, let's see the Duke of Albany.
I think it's someone who's very loyal, someone who is
happy where he is and not trying to, you know,
go for more power and make rash decisions based on that,
and that becomes his strength but also his weakness and
(02:53):
for other people to you know, criticize him about it.
But in my sense, I see him as someone who's
very loyal and doing his best.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Did you have to do anything special to prepare for
this role?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Anything special? Honestly, No, just memorizing lines and just working
on lines a lot, so then we can just be
present on stage.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I know so many people who keep their lines backstage
and then they run back, take a peek quick whenever
they can, and then run back out again.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, for this show, it's actually sometimes not for your
own line. Sometimes it's helpful to just go back and
have scripts open, to be like where are we what's
the next scene? And a lot of us actors are
also playing multiple roles, so when you're in the moment,
you can forget like, oh do I enter again? So
if you come back, so they'll definitely be some script
tand there. Super helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And what is your background, like, have you always done theater?
Did you train for theater?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I went to UMA's Amerst and I have to be
in theater from umus Amist. So yeah, since then, I
graduated in twenty eighteen. Since twenty eighteen, I have been
I've been pursuing acting.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Wow, I love that you're a local guy. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Tell me why is it so important that people understand
Shakespeare and go to this festival?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I think this festival it is just it's a great
way for like families to come and see shows. Like,
for example, some shows I do my nephew and my
niece who are nine year old and a three year old,
they can't really come see a show, you know, indoor
there's like twelve years above and everything. In this case,
(04:36):
it's like anyone can come. You can bring your baby,
you can bring a newborn, you can have a whole
family event, and you expose kids to just acting or lights,
costumes and shows, and even if they don't understand it,
then they will remember the experience. So I think that's
the main power of this festival, which it's beautiful to
(04:58):
see all ages the audience.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yes, I think it's wonderful that it brings everyone together.
And I also think that it's one thing when you
read Shakespeare, but when you see people on stage acting
it out with the correct inflection, it makes so much
more sense and it has such a greater impact. I
want to tell everyone, go, go, go if you can,
because it's going to change your life. You're never going
(05:22):
to feel the same again about Shakespeare. Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I agree, because when you read Shakespeare as a in
fifth grade secret seventy, when our people do, most people
end up hitting it because it's such complicated English. You're like,
why are we reading this? And that opinion stays for
a long time. And instead if the first experience of
kids experience in Shakespeare is a live performance with music,
(05:46):
with costumes, with people entering from the audience, and it's
a different it's more fun exposures to Shakespeare.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yes, I fell in love with Midsummer Nights Dream because
I have a teacher who taught it well. She had
me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
I had another teacher who taught Julius Caesar, and I
was like this thinks you know what I mean. So
it's all about the presentation. I'm so impressed that you're
in both of these shows and you have several roles
in these shows. We talked a little bit about King Lear.
(06:18):
Let's talk about Twelfth Night.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yes, yeah, Twelve Night's fun. It's a very like she
experienced comedy with mistaken identities and you know, people looking
for love, finding love, finding the wrong love, and you
know with the so called happy ish ending. So it's
they're very very contrasting shows, which works well, you know,
(06:42):
going to the heavy world of clear and then the
next day you do a fan show like Twelve Nights.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
What is the name of your character in twelve.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yetey and Twelfth Night, I'm playing the Duke of the
Duke Carsino.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Is he a bad guy or a good guy?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No? No, no, no, no, no, he's a very good guy.
He's the duke is the Duke of Ileria. So you know,
if someone who's looking for love, who's looking for his
special what's the word for the soulmate, you know, so
he's looking for his soelmate. So I think, yeah, just
a really good experience with some happy faces.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yes, I think everyone wants to feel moved, that there's
some kind of touching experience, that it's something relatable. People
don't realize that Shakespeare's relatable. It applies to today.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, one thing about the tickets. I think you can
get the tickets online, but also you can if you're
somebody who wants to buy tickets on the spot. They
also sell tickets on the spot. If you want to
base it on like what's the weather like, or it's
not too hot today, so let's go today. You can
get it online and you can also buy them in
person over there wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
You can go to Capitolclassics dot org. I'm speaking with
actor A Boozer for rook A Boozer. Thank you so
much for being here today and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Of course, thank you so much else and thank you
for having me
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is actor a boozer Frock, am I saying.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
That okay, absolutely, yes, great.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I so appreciate you. He's a Capital Classics actor from
the Capitol Classics Theater Company. The Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival
is going on and he's here to tell us all
about it. It's going on from July ninth through August third.
Tell me all about the festival.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Okay, I can try my best. This is my first
time working with Capitol Classics Theater Company and they do
and this is I think their second year doing two
shows at the time, and two Shakespeare shows in repertoire.
It's called the Greater Hertford Shakespeare Festival and it's their
thirty fourth season. And you come with your family or
(00:49):
by yourself if that's fine, and you bring your blankets,
your beach chairs, and you sit outdoors and watch some Shakespeare.
And in case of green we also have like an
indoor space where we have a backup solution if it's raining.
But yeah, it's outdoor Shakespeare. And this season we're doing
(01:10):
Kinglear and Topnight.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
So it's at the campus at the University of Saint
Joseph outside, but like you said, if needed they can
go inside and use the theater there. It's absolutely beautiful.
If anybody would like tickets, they can go to Capitolclassics
dot org. So you're doing two productions and you're going
to be in both of them.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yes, I am fun.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Let's start with King Lair. Who are you? And King Lear?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
In King There, I'm playing the Duke of Albany, along
with some other small party and there since King Lear
has a lot of roles, so but mostly I'll be
playing the Duke of.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Alban And for people who don't know what King learra
is about, can you give us a little bit of
a promise?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Sure? King There, I would say, for me is mostly
about family, about loyalty, and about power, about the lust
for power, and I guess in the inability to let
go of power. And I think, like a lot of audience,
I haven't actually watched it, but a lot of people
who know about Succession the TV show, it's kind of
(02:14):
inspired by King Dear, so that might be helpful to
people who are not aware of King Dear. I've never
seen a production of King Dear, so this is my
first time also doing King Bear, which I've been very
very very exciting and fun.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And what's your character?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Like, what's my character? Like, let's see the Duke of Albany.
I think it's someone who's very loyal, someone who is
happy where he is and not trying to, you know,
go for more power and make rash decisions based on that,
and that becomes his strength but also his weakness and
(02:53):
for other people to you know, criticize him about it.
But in my sense, I see him as someone who's
very loyal and doing his best.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Did you have to do anything special to prepare for
this role?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Anything special? Honestly, No, just memorizing lines and just working
on lines a lot, so then we can just be
present on stage.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I know so many people who keep their lines backstage
and then they run back, take a peek quick whenever
they can, and then run back out again.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, for this show, it's actually sometimes not for your
own line. Sometimes it's helpful to just go back and
have scripts open, to be like where are we what's
the next scene? And a lot of us actors are
also playing multiple roles, so when you're in the moment,
you can forget like, oh do I enter again? So
if you come back, so they'll definitely be some script
tand there. Super helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And what is your background, like, have you always done theater?
Did you train for theater?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I went to UMA's Amerst and I have to be
in theater from umus Amist. So yeah, since then, I
graduated in twenty eighteen. Since twenty eighteen, I have been
I've been pursuing acting.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Wow, I love that you're a local guy. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Tell me why is it so important that people understand
Shakespeare and go to this festival?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I think this festival it is just it's a great
way for like families to come and see shows. Like,
for example, some shows I do my nephew and my
niece who are nine year old and a three year old,
they can't really come see a show, you know, indoor
there's like twelve years above and everything. In this case,
(04:36):
it's like anyone can come. You can bring your baby,
you can bring a newborn, you can have a whole
family event, and you expose kids to just acting or lights,
costumes and shows, and even if they don't understand it,
then they will remember the experience. So I think that's
the main power of this festival, which it's beautiful to
(04:58):
see all ages the audience.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yes, I think it's wonderful that it brings everyone together.
And I also think that it's one thing when you
read Shakespeare, but when you see people on stage acting
it out with the correct inflection, it makes so much
more sense and it has such a greater impact. I
want to tell everyone, go, go, go if you can,
because it's going to change your life. You're never going
(05:22):
to feel the same again about Shakespeare. Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I agree, because when you read Shakespeare as a in
fifth grade secret seventy, when our people do, most people
end up hitting it because it's such complicated English. You're like,
why are we reading this? And that opinion stays for
a long time. And instead if the first experience of
kids experience in Shakespeare is a live performance with music,
(05:46):
with costumes, with people entering from the audience, and it's
a different it's more fun exposures to Shakespeare.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yes, I fell in love with Midsummer Nights Dream because
I have a teacher who taught it well. She had
me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
I had another teacher who taught Julius Caesar, and I
was like this thinks you know what I mean. So
it's all about the presentation. I'm so impressed that you're
in both of these shows and you have several roles
in these shows. We talked a little bit about King Lear.
(06:18):
Let's talk about Twelfth Night.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yes, yeah, Twelve Night's fun. It's a very like she
experienced comedy with mistaken identities and you know, people looking
for love, finding love, finding the wrong love, and you
know with the so called happy ish ending. So it's
they're very very contrasting shows, which works well, you know,
(06:42):
going to the heavy world of clear and then the
next day you do a fan show like Twelve Nights.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
What is the name of your character in twelve.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yetey and Twelfth Night, I'm playing the Duke of the
Duke Carsino.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Is he a bad guy or a good guy?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No? No, no, no, no, no, he's a very good guy.
He's the duke is the Duke of Ileria. So you know,
if someone who's looking for love, who's looking for his
special what's the word for the soulmate, you know, so
he's looking for his soelmate. So I think, yeah, just
a really good experience with some happy faces.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yes, I think everyone wants to feel moved, that there's
some kind of touching experience, that it's something relatable. People
don't realize that Shakespeare's relatable. It applies to today.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, one thing about the tickets. I think you can
get the tickets online, but also you can if you're
somebody who wants to buy tickets on the spot. They
also sell tickets on the spot. If you want to
base it on like what's the weather like, or it's
not too hot today, so let's go today. You can
get it online and you can also buy them in
person over there wonderful.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
You can go to Capitolclassics dot org. I'm speaking with
actor A Boozer for rook A Boozer. Thank you so
much for being here today and for serving the community.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Of course, thank you so much else and thank you
for having me
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