Prof. Adrianne Krstansky (THA) stars in Lisa Kron's play 2.5 Minute Ride, a memoir about the playwright's life and family. The show is staged by New Repertory Theatre at Watertown's Arsenal Center for the Arts. The play runs through Oct. 24.
JustArts: What was it like to play Lisa Kron for a second time in a different play?

Adrianne Krstansky: Well, her other play, Well, is about her mother, so in some ways, it was great research into the Kron family to do that play and then come into 2.5 Minute Ride which is more about her father. I became quite close to Ellen Colten, who played Ann Kron in the production of Well that I did, so now, in 2.5, when I talk about "my mother" I have a pretty clear idea of who she is based on Ellen's wonderful performance. But, as you know, we are all such different people in different situations, so it was a great foundation to do Well, but I found out so much more about Lisa by doing 2.5.

JA: Kron has played herself in this play before. Did you work with her on how to evoke her experiences on stage?

AK: She and I have had a casual sort of "e-mail relationship" since Well, but I have never met her. She has written me some simple and profound words of wisdom, but I also feel a great sense of generosity from her-that she does actually want me to inhabit the story as if it were my own. So there is no attempt to become Lisa Kron, but to find myself in her story.

JA: The play takes place in Arsenal's Black Box Theater. What are the challenges and benefits of acting in this kind of theater?

AK: I only find benefits. The audience is close. I can feel people breathing. It's a wonderfully intimate space for this play, which is actually, I find, more of a conversation with the audience than a monologue.

JA: What are the challenges and benefits of acting in a one-woman show as opposed to a play with multiple characters?

AK: I am still dealing with the challenges which center on the basic fact of no one else coming onstage! The intimacy is now with the audience rather than another actor-and since actors who do one person shows don't get to rehearse with their audience, it's new every night.

JA: Did you find the personal memoir content of this play to relate to your own life?

AK: Only superficially. There are certain factual aspects of our lives that are similar-growing up in the Midwest, our parents share many of the same qualities: eating in front of the TV, various illnesses that people get when they become elderly-but my childhood and adult life is much different than Lisa's. I think she is probably much more outgoing than I am in her day to day life!

JA: You're often involved in professional theater during the school year. How does your outside work complement your work at Brandeis?

AK: It keeps me humble.