Two Wolverine Football Players Tackle Shakespeare: David Cone
12/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 11, 2009
David Cone
At 6-7 with a slight Georgia twang, quarterback David Cone is hard to miss on-stage. He plays a wounded soldier in Macbeth and though he wears tights, they're obscured by a hospital gown. Cone doesn't have any aspirations in the theater, but he got involved with the production after speaking with Professor Phillip Kerr in the theatre school about taking classes for non-majors. Cone is a talented filmmaker and aspiring musician and he wanted the experience of being part of a large stage production. Just how nervous will the QB be on-stage when the curtain rises?
How did you get involved in Macbeth?
About a year ago, I met with Phillip Kerr, a professor in the theatre school, about what I need to do to get into theatre classes for non-majors. He gave me a list of classes I could take. I met with him a couple times after that. I wanted to know what I could do this fall, since we'd be in-season, to basically just stay up on my acting and do something until I could take another class next winter. He said he'd be directing Macbeth and that it was going to be a large cast. He said I could have a small role in it. I couldn't audition for a bigger part because those are for the theatre students. Mostly I wanted to see how it all worked; I knew I wasn't going to be able to really expand with a character. I just wanted to see how the process worked and ask questions.
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My part was a little bit bigger than I thought. I'm not just sitting in the bed doing nothing. I have to know my cues, move around during the apparition scene. I'm just a wounded soldier.
You don't have a name? My name's Ian, but it never gets said or anything.
What do you have to wear? Do you wear tights? Actually I do, but they're covered up by a hospital gown. Basically, I'm just scenery for most of the play like in the bed. I have to moan during my cues whenever bad stuff is happening, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are conniving.
Are you a fan of Shakespeare? I'm not particularly a fan of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's great, but I don't particularly strive to really even do anything with the stage in particular. I like film a little more, but it's fun. I'm glad I can get my feet wet with a smaller part like this. I don't have to go on stage and recite Shakespeare -- they take classes for that! I'm hearing them do it, I'm watching them grow every day that we do it, they're really good.
>> David was actually an extra in the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance" which was filmed near his hometown in Savannah, Georgia. Released in 2000, David was 12 years old and had a scene crossing the street as the town celebrated after the big golf match.
What do you like to read? Anytime I'm reading something it's basically to get knowledge. I just started a biography on Marlon Brando, and I just finished "Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism" by John Shelby Spong. I figure my fiction comes from movies.
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Plans after graduation? I kind of wanted to take some acting classes from the Savannah College of Art & Design. That's definitely not set in stone though. I'd like to take some camera classes too. Next semester I'm taking one acting class for the camera -- you do different acting scenarios in front of the camera. The one I took last time was kind of like a general, come in and read a couple monologues. It taught us areas of the stage; it was more of a stage acting class.
Do you think you'll be more nervous to get up on stage this weekend than you would to go out and play at the Big House? That's a good question and they're very similar. You're not really trying to entertain them (the crowd) though, you're playing a sport and they're watching. In theatre, they expect to be entertained, whereas in football they're just kind of bystanders. You don't really play the game for people to watch, it's more you're playing the game and people are coming to watch. I feel I could answer that question better if either, one, I was the starter here, and also if I were to have a bigger part in the play. But I think I'd be more nervous in football and I don't think it has anything to do with the amount of people watching, it's just because the game is so uncertain. You don't really know what's going to happen. In theatre, you've done the same lines over and over again and every night should be the same really, there shouldn't be anything unexpected. But in football you really don't know.
>> David's parents are actually driving up from Georgia to see their son in Macbeth. They'd typically make it up for a game in the fall once a year, working around their two younger sons' fall sports schedules. This year, they planned to come up for graduation in the spring as well, but decided last minute they couldn't miss the opportunity to see David compete on a different stage -- the Power Center stage. Both parents were raised in the south, though Mrs. Cone was born in Columbus, Ohio, to a family of Buckeyes. Apparently Mr. Cone is looking forward to seeing snow. Careful what you wish for!
