YTG Profile - Dries Endert

January 28, 2009 (edit: February 10, 2009) | andrew | 0 comments

Dries Endert, the young man who plays Richard, Duke of York (one of the ill-fated Princes in the Tower) in William Shakespeare's R3 is a local Yokohama resident who lives a bike ride away from the YCAC (our performance venue for February).

Dries Robert Endert was last seen playing Simon Callow and one of the Boatmen on the River Styx in Yokohama International School's fall production of Tina (from which play he was scouted by the R3 production team). To date, his only performances have been in school plays, meaning that R3 is his first outside production.

Dries is 13 years old, and holds a Dutch passport. He's lived in Japan for two and a half years and can often be seen around the YCAC with his family.

When asked about the challenges of acting in a non-school show, Dries replied that unlike many of his peers, he didn't have so many school activities and was thus a little more free schedule-wise to participate. But what about the challenges of playing Richard, Duke of York?

"A challenge for me," says Dries, "Is to be a little more cheeky when I'm playing Young York."

Cheeky? Dries goes on to liken his character to the traditional figure of the Medieval Fool: "Young York is a very smart and cheeky little boy, and he also takes advantage of his young age to get away with saying true things in a way the adults can't."

The directing team is very impressed with Dries's work. "He's very perceptive and clever," says Andrew Woolner, the show's Director, "You don't really have to tell him anything twice. I'd say he's a natural actor, but in some circles, that's an insult."

It's unclear whether Mr. Endert would take it as an insult, as he says he loves acting and has expressed the desire to become an actor. He says he "...knows the chance is small that I will become [an actor]," though the feedback from the cast and crew convinces us that Dries's chance is probably better than most.

But in the meantime, Dries seems happy enough to volunteer his skills for R3. He told us that he was excited about acting in front of an audience of people he doesn't necessarily know (as opposed to school productions, one supposes, when the audience is mostly friends and family). He is a little disappointed that his friends are not as interested in acting as he is, since that means that he doesn't get to act in plays with them. It seems certain, though, that Dries will continue performing in the future. When asked to some up his feelings about acting in the show, he said:

"Acting is always fun because you can always jump into anyone's shoes and it is a fun challenge to stand up in front of an audience."

Come see Dries perform in William Shakespeare's R3 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in Ikebukuro in April! To reserve tickets, -:CLICK HERE:-

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