The Play’s the Thing

One young Member discovers a passion for acting and takes a step towards realizing his dream.

Raymond Briggs’ heartwarming Christmas classic The Snowman has caught the imagination of millions since it was first published in 1978.

It certainly mesmerized Member Enzo Thomaz when he saw a stage adaptation of the book in London when he was just 6 years old.

“I remember seeing that and it having an impact on me because it was the first production where I felt, as a kid, that I could escape into it,” Thomaz, 17, says. “I felt like I was that little boy, building a snowman and going on an adventure.”

Thomaz also remembers encountering more traditional plays and having Shakespeare “hammered into us” at school.

“It wasn’t really something we wanted to learn, but we had to,” he says.

But a visit to see a production of The Comedy of Errors changed the way he viewed the Bard.

“It left an impression on me at the young age of 8 or 9,” he says. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, what a feat to do that in front of so many people.’ It was just incredible.”

Fast forward to November 2023 and Thomaz found himself rehearsing for a production of Hamlet with Sheepdog Theatre, a Tokyo-based theater group.

Last spring, the group’s director, Michael Walker, was scouting young actors at the British School in Tokyo, where Thomaz is enrolled. But Thomaz was away in the United States for a three-week acting program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He later sent Walker a recording of his performance of Hamlet’s “Am I a coward?” soliloquy from a Kanto speech competition.

Walker was impressed.

“Enzo clearly had great passion for acting and was receiving amazing support from his parents,” says the Australian founder of Sheepdog Theatre. “For someone so young, he has excellent theater instincts, meaning he doesn’t overplay his moments but stays truthful to his character. He was also very comfortable with the language of Shakespeare.”

Thomaz was chosen to play Horatio and understudy the lead role for the five-night run at Theater Bonbon in February.

“It was intimidating at first,” Thomaz admits. “But looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way because I feel that by being thrown into the process, I was forced to learn from the other actors. It was a beautiful experience.”

One particular tip from Walker stays with him.

“If you have an emotion, bury it. If you’re on stage and you feel like expressing it, shove it down until it comes out in an uncontrollable way. That’s what the best actors do so well,” Thomaz says.

Sage advice for a young actor with silver-screen aspirations.

“The dream is to be a film actor,” he says. “Any exposure to acting is going to help me grow. I love theater and I would be happy doing either, but film is the endgame.”