Love Rosie

Written by Celia Ahern, “Love Rosie” was directed and arranged by senior Anna Schloerb for SET. This piece in particular was divided into three scenes interspersed throughout the show.

“Love Rosie” told the story of two friends, Rosie and Alex, and their relationship during three stages of their lives — childhood, teenage years and adulthood — as their paths diverge.

Senior Isha Singh, who played Rosie, said she found poignancy in the story because it shows both the joys and hardships of life. In looking to portray that poignancy, Isha prepared for each scene differently.

“For the first one, I was just really channeling being a little kid, so backstage me and Jacob would look across at each other and dance around and be all goofy, and we’re best friends in real life, so it really helped us be goofy on stage,” she said. “As for the teenage part, it was very relatable because I just thought of the stress about applying to college and everything like that, and I thought about the fears that I have because we started confronting a lot of fears in the second act of “Love, Rosie.” In the third part, I really thought about reminiscing on the little things in life that are beautiful despite all the tension and the stress that you can face.”

Jacob Beiser, a senior, prepared for playing Alex at three different ages by focusing on character growth between the ages portrayed in each scene.

“To develop the character, I had to think deeply about the text and try to interpret beyond it. What had happened between scene one and scene two? It also meant that I had to find different points of concentration for each scene, but still try to maintain a sense of continuity,” he said.

Having seen the film prior to getting the role, Isha said she was excited to delve into a piece so true to the human experience.

“That’s what I really liked about it, that it showed the progression of two people throughout their lives, still connecting together but reminiscing on what could have been.”