Meet the MFA: Reneé Racan Rodriguez (Kate Hardcastle)

By Tom Robson

Has any Indiana University graduate student appeared in such a wide variety of roles as Reneé Racan Rodriguez in the past three years. Inhabiting roles as disparate as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Penelope in Happy Birthday, Wanda June has showcased the range of this memorable actress. From the Puritan adultress Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter to the acid-tongued academic Hannah Jarvis in Arcadia, Rodriguez has brought her vast talents and immense intelligence to the stages of the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. Now she prepares to step onto the Ruth N. Halls stage for the final time, as Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, her MFA thesis role.

When asked why she selected Kate for her thesis, Rodriguez responded, “When I first read the play I had a passion for the role immediately, and I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it in the season. I knew this would be a once in a lifetime chance, unlike some of the other roles in the season. That's what drew me to it.” Pointing out that She Stoops does not regularly appear on the professional stage in the United States, Rodriguez recognized an opportunity to try something she might not otherwise get the chance to do.

She Stoops poses a difficult challenge for any actress playing this role, for she must portray both the upper-class Kate and the saucy barmaid she disguises herself as. According to Rodriguez, “I find that the challenges have to do with the two different dialects, and how she completely changes her tactics to get this guy, to make him fall in love with her.”

Like her castmate Brendan Pentzell, Rodriguez credits her time in Bloomington with enabling her to become “more free” onstage. “I'm bringing a lot more of myself to roles,” she says, adding that she is doing it “with more confidence.”

While at Indiana, Rodriguez has continued to nurture her second love: directing. She produced the play The Credeaux Canvas on the University Theatre stage this past summer, and hopes to continue to work as both an actor and a director. Her post-graduation plans demonstrate her ambition and the scale of her vision. Together with a friend from New York, Rodriguez hopes to open her own theatre company, one with a focus on Latina theatre. “We want to really focus on the female experience,” the actress says. While starting this company, Rodriguez plans to pursue acting professionally, a task in which she seems certain to succeed.

• The People of the Production
• Press Release
• She Stoops to Conquer Homepage
• New Acting/Directing Faculty Fontaine Syer CONQUERS Her First IU Production
• Meet the MFA: Brendan Pentzell (Mr. Hardcastle)
• Meet the MFA: Gregory C. Brenchley, Lighting Designer
• PRESHOW LECTURE BY ROGER HERZEL