When chasing theatrical aspirations, many envision Broadway lights or Hollywood sets, but this year three students and two alumni made a stop in Illinois on their acting journeys.

The Illinois Shakespeare Festival hosts plays with showings from June 26 through Aug. 3 for around 10,000 theatergoers. The company performs “Macbeth,” “Twelfth Night” and “Sense and Sensibility,” in Bloomington, Illinois’ Ewing Theatre, which seats 430 people.

“It’s a grand space, but something about that also feels intimate,” acting senior Dominic Gross said. “I hadn’t felt that before, and it just felt real and like the thing I’m supposed to do.”

Acting ‘22 alumna Sophie Anne Miller initially auditioned for the festival due to former professor Quetta Carpenter directing “Sense and Sensibility.” In the play, Miller plays Elinor Dashwood in addition to Fabian in “Twelfth Night” and Witch in “Macbeth.”

“There’s something exciting about playing someone who doesn’t have all her cards on the table,” Miller said. “Elinor is very much that person, but eventually it all comes out. That’s the fun part, (is) when do I reveal things about myself that usually I would keep under the surface.”

Acting amongst school alumni and seasoned performers, undergraduate students stand out as fresh faces, a concept performance space Gross said he found daunting at times. Gross plays Sebastian in “Twelfth Night,” Willoughby in “Sense and Sensibility” and Captain/Seyton/Young Siward in “Macbeth.”

“I like being in this position where I can look up to these people,” Gross said. “Some of these people played these same roles four other times, but they approach everything with the same intensity as they did the other three times.”

Gross and acting junior Esmeralda Treviño previously tackled Shakespeare with UT’s production of “Romeo y Juliet,” the bilingual adaptation of the playwright’s celebrated star-crossed lover script.

“The words don’t always translate well, so it was fun finding words in Spanish that best fit the Shakespearean word,” Treviño said. “Getting to explore Spanish texts in your body and with different vocal ranges because not everybody understands what the words are, getting that message across was fun.” 

Treviño said the festival served as an opportunity to observe her former professors, “Macbeth” director Corey Allen and “Sense and Sensibility” director Carpenter, outside the classroom.

“(Allen) was upfront about the type of director he would be in class,” Treviño said. “(Allen) was always making class different so you didn’t know what to expect, and that’s how he directed Macbeth.”

In addition to portraying Lady MacDuff in “Macbeth” and Charlotte Palmer/Sophia Grey in “Sense and Sensibility,” Treviño plays Witch #3/Camp Counselor #3/Malcolm in the child-targeted “Campfire Macbeth.”

“It’s a call and response show, so we have parents, grandparents and kids trying to make thunder or repeating words with us,” Treviño said. “It’s freeing getting to play around with the audience.”

Whether it be grisly suspense in “Macbeth” or timeless humor in “Twelfth Night” or the heartwarming storyline in “Sense and Sensibility,” Gross said relished the opportunity to become one with the plays he performed.

“Halfway through the play, the sun goes down, and everyone feels like one big entity, including the actors and the audience,” Gross said. “Everyone’s like this one life, and it’s an unexplainable thing that happens every night.”