Brian C. Gray on Collaboration, Storytelling and Primary Trust at The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio
When Primary Trust, the Pulitzer Prize–winning play by Eboni Booth, opens at The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio (April 23 – May 10), Brian C. Gray will be part of the cast bringing its heartfelt story about friendship and change to life. We caught up with Brian to talk about his path to theater, his creative process and why this production resonates so deeply with audiences.
Meredith: How did you get started in theater? What do you remember about first being intrigued by it?
Brian: Although I had performed in a couple of shows in middle and high school, I didn’t start taking theater seriously until college. I was studying vocal performance and found myself drawn to the breadth of storytelling that theater provides.
Meredith: Who are some of your inspirations?
Brian: Always Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Powerhouses of American theater!
Meredith: What is your process for rehearsing/performing?
Brian: For me, it always comes down to collaboration. The work I do to prepare a character(s) is always developing as I learn more about the other characters and their environment. All great things that inform the performance.
Meredith: What question do you get asked most often about your art, and how do you answer?
Brian: “What’re you working on?” gets asked quite often. It’s usually easy to answer as long as I have something I’m working on or coming up. I’m honored people want to keep up with my work.
Meredith: What’s something about theater that you think might appeal to someone who’s never seen it before?
Brian: I tell people that theater is like an iceberg. When we see a show or performance, we usually only see the performers on stage. However, there’s a slew of people working backstage, running lights and/or sound, and helping with costume changes. Then there’s the team of designers and builders who dreamed up the setting and how the audience would see it, then built and lit it. Producing theater is a tremendous undertaking. I think someone who hasn’t seen a show before would appreciate that.
Meredith: What do you like about working with The Contemporary?
Brian: The Contemporary always creates an honest, safe rehearsal space where actors are encouraged to try new things and make beautiful mistakes.
Meredith: Why should audiences be excited about Primary Trust?
Brian: I think audiences should be excited for this show for multiple reasons. A play about navigating a change of job and financial stability, a tiki bar, and the return of CATCO’s founding artistic director to this stage? What’s not to be excited about?!
Meredith: What’s on your current playlist?
Brian: I’m on a bit of a JPop/KPop kick. Listening to a lot of XG, Le Sserrafim, New Jeans and more.
Meredith: What do you do to relax or unwind?
Brian: YouTube is my typical unwind-by-TV spot. I also find cooking to be relaxing.
Meredith: What are some of your favorite things about Columbus?
Brian: My Columbus favorites include Northstar Cafe, Hounddog’s Pizza and Highbanks Metro Park.
See Brian in Primary Trust, which runs April 23–May 10, in Studio Two at the Vern Riffe Center in downtown Columbus.
Author bio
Meredith Liepelt is CEO of Rising Star Publicity.
This article is part of a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council as part of the Art Makes Columbus campaign. Explore a calendar of events, public art database, artist-curated public art tours and stories at columbusmakesart.com. To learn more about GCAC grants visit gcac.org.