Rhonda (Brynn Tucker) argues that graffiti belongs outside and not inside on museum walls in Idris Goodwin’s ‘This is Modern Art,’ closing today (April 15) at the Jones Theatre. Photo by Adams VisCom.

The actor loves anime, stop-motion and now a more controversial variation on the art form: Graffiti, and its history

MEET BRYNN TUCKER
Brynn Tucker, who plays Rhonda and other roles in Off-Center’s This is Modern Art, made her DCPA Theatre company last year in Frankenstein. Other local credits include the True West Award-winning Rape of the Sabine Women by Grace B. Matthias for Local Theatre Company; Robert Schenkkan’s Building the Wall for Curious Theatre and the Aspen Ideas Festival; and  Marcus: The Secret of Sweet for Curious Theatre. Regional credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Folger Theatre), The Widow Lincoln, Our Town (Ford’s Theatre), A Guide to Dancing Naked* (DC Capital Fringe Festival). 

• Hometown: Germantown, Maryland
• Home now: Denver
• High School: Rangeview
• Training: Spelman College and The British American Drama Academy
• What’s your handle? @BrynnPossible on Twitter and Instagram
• Website: brynnpossible.com
• Twitter-sized bio: Actress and dancer living in the Mile High City. Lover of anime and Adventure Time. Spirit animal is Lumpy Space Princess. Can bust out some black moguls on the ski mountain like a champ. #sostylee!
• What would you be doing if you were not an actor? I would be a travel vlogger. Traveling for extended periods of time, where most people don’t know me. Learning new languages is an aspiration of mine. Getting paid for it would be living the dream.
• One role you were completely miscast for: Benjamin Franklin. 
• Bucket-list role: I don’t seek out specific roles, they reveal themselves to me and if I’m meant to have them, I take them on.
• What’s playing on your Spotify? Enrique Inglesias. (Baby I STILL like it!)
• What’s one thing we don’t know about you? I worked on an organic farm in Thailand with no air conditioning or electricity in a bamboo hut. I realized I didn’t know how to grow anything, and I wanted to learn Howa.
• One time you saw greatness play out in front of you: I’ve always been enamored by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The music, story and songs make it a must-watch during the holidays. The darkness, the beauty and the lifelike art of stop-motion animation really catered to my imagination as a child, and still does now as an adult.
  
• One thing we should be doing to foster the next generation of theatregoers? Evolving theater to be more interactive and engaging than ever before. I think the next generation would appreciate a revolution of some kind. Especially when it comes to their entertainment.
• What is This is Modern Art about? Idris Goodwin’s play recounts the true story of one of the biggest graffiti bombs in Chicago history. In less than 20 minutes in a 2010 snowstorm, a stealthy crew spray-painted a 50-foot graffiti piece along the exterior wall of the Art Institute of Chicago, raising big questions, including: What is art? Where does it go? And who gets to say so?
• Why does This is Modern Art matter? It really resonates because it shows a group of young people who were willing to risk everything for something they believe in, something greater than themselves. The right to share your ideas, art, beliefs and even opinions is now under constant scrutiny. You can get into serious trouble if you say the wrong thing. I pose the question: “What are we willing to risk to say or do what we believe is right?”
• What do you hope audiences get out of seeing This is Modern Art? I hope they  begin to notice graffiti in their neighborhoods. And that they understand the history and culture so they can make an informed decision for themselves, rather than a one-sided one.
• What do you want to get off your chest? I’ve been thinking about freedom for a while now. I’ve found it’s less about access to what we think we want or deserve. It’s more about your own hero’s journey: Taking up your sword and having the courage to go through life. Love and dragons, you take them all on. I think the ability and the choice to do this is the greatest freedom. Choose your own adventure book EVER!

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter

This is Modern Art: Ticket information

• Presented by Off-Center
• Performances through April 15
• Jones Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
• Written by Kevin Coval and Idris Goodwin
• Directed by Idris Goodwin
• Featuring Robert Lee Hardy, John Jurcheck, Brynn Tucker, Jake Mendes, Chloe McLeod and Marco Robinson
• Call 303-893-4100 or BUY ONLINE

Selected previous NewsCenter coverage of This is Modern Art:

• This is Modern Art will make you look
• Video: Your first look at This is Modern Art; plus: opening photos
• Idris Goodwin is going places: From Curious’ Detroit ’67 to Denver Center
• Graffiti: Modern art or ‘urban terrorism’?
• Meet the cast: Jake Mendes
• Vast and visceral: Off-Center season will include This is Modern Art

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter

Video by DCPA Video Producer David Lenk.

More 2017-18 ‘In the Spotlife’ profiles:

• Meet Meet Gustavo Márquez of Native Gardens
• Meet Gia Valverde: Native Gardens
• Meet Jake Mendes of This is Modern Art
• Meet Ilasiea L. Gray of Sleeping Beauty
• Meet Meet Jordan Baker of Native Gardens
• Meet Candy Brown of Love Letters
• Meet Christy Brandt of Creede Rep’s Arsenic and Old Lace
• Meet Deb Persoff of Vintage Theatre’s August: Osage County
• Meet Monica Joyce Thompson of Inspire Creative’s South Pacific
• Meet Hugo Jon Sayles of I Don’t Speak English Only
• Meet Marialuisa Burgos of I Don’t Speak English Only

Some members of the ‘This is Modern Art’ team attended Friday’s opening of the DCPA Theatre Company’s ‘Native Gardens’ on Friday. From left: Chloe McLeod, Brynn Tucker, John Jurcheck, Off-Center Curator Charlie Miller and Jake Mendes.