Artist Biography
Andrea Pellizzari is an aspiring film, stage, and voice actor from Groton, Massachusetts. She is currently a senior Performing Arts major with a concentration in Theater and a minor in Psychology at Endicott College. The theater has been her passion since elementary school, and she has been involved in dozens of plays, musicals, and student films throughout the years, both acting and helping with various backstage aspects. She has worked as a technical intern at Stage 284 Community Theater and Gloucester Stage Company, assisting primarily with lighting, sound, and set creation. Though she enjoys working behind the scenes, being on stage is one of her greatest joys, and she is thrilled to be pursuing it. Some of her more notable roles include Mopsa in Head Over Heels, Tilly in She Kills Monsters, Miss Blacklock in A Murder is Announced, and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. Her other interests include digital art, video games, fried rice, and spending time with friends, family, and pets.
Thesis Abstract
Last semester, I spent my time researching general anxiety and the potential effects of humor use and theatrical experiences as a coping mechanism. Despite limited academic research in the area, there were some positive correlations between anxiety relief and expressing oneself through acting and/or artistic creation, and comedy. I often turn to both of these as a way of soothing my own struggles with stress and anxious feelings and wanted to create a thesis that would be reflective of this. The project, a one-act play, is focused on the way that my thoughts and anxiety interact with each other and myself, and how this affects my life. Although the concept is ultimately more serious in nature, and there are certainly many serious and/or heavy moments within the piece, I wanted to use comedy throughout to keep it light-hearted and therefore more reflective of who I am as a person. I’ve always found that sharing a laugh with someone is one of the nicest ways to connect with them because that moment is pure joy. The theater has also always served as an escape for me – it is my greatest passion, and as a Performing Arts major, it felt only right to create a project that incorporated acting and theatrics in this way.