We sat down with K’nique Eichelberger, a returning Resident Actor with our company this season, to hear him express how the power of live theatre has impacted his own life as a human and an artist. Read on below:
Hope.
It allows all of our deepest buried emotions to rise to the surface; through theatre, people begin to hope again. This is exactly what this world needs: hope.
To me, theatre provides a world of new ideas and imagination which takes me from everyday life to an entirely new place and fill me with hope. The theatre is a place where I can explore myself, lose myself in someone else’s world, and allows to undertake a journey through a time long passed.
We all talk about Covid-19, but one positive thing it has brought us is more theatre into our homes. We’ve seen more productions filmed, more shows online, and inventive ways to express performing arts, which has greatly helped many people who don’t have the opportunity or money to see amazing productions. That said, live theatre will never be like any other! You can certainly feel something through a tv screen, but when passionate people on stage express a story to an audience, the audience has no choice but to feel what those actors are going through as they take them through a journey and leave not as they came.
I believe it takes a strong, imaginative, hopeful human to create art. As a creator I want the audience to leave ready to make the necessary changes to think more deeply and make our world a better and safer place. All I want for everyone is to leave with hope–hope for a lifetime.
K’nique is originally from Columbia, South Carolina but moved to Brevard, North Carolina where he earned a B.A. in Music and Theatre. He is so excited to be returning to the company for a second year. His recent credits include: Kinky Boots (Lola), The Last Five Years (Jamie), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey II), Into The Woods (Jack), Streetcar Named Desire (Stanley) and more. He is very thankful for his friends and family who have supported him throughout the years. K’nique is so excited to change lives through creating art at Charleston Stage! Stay tuned on Instagram @nique_tg3