Natasha Greenblatt is on the Rise

Natasha Greenblatt may come from an established Canadian theatre family, but this 25-year-old film, television, and stage actress – not to mention budding playwright – is doing an excellent job of striking out on her own. She has written and performed a solo show in high schools across the Greater Toronto Area, starred in the independent feature film Sheltered Life, and played the lead role in The Diary of Anne Frank, both at the Segal Centre in Montreal and at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton. She is also developing shows with two playwriting units at Theatre Passe Muraille and Nightwood Theatre in Toronto.

This month, Greenblatt co-stars as a 17-year-old girl with an unusual dilemma in Theatre Smash’s world premiere of A Boy Called Newfoundland. Written by acclaimed Canadian playwright Graeme Gillis, Newfoundland tells the story of Newfoundland ‘Flounder’ Willow, an awkward 15-year-old cadet. When his mother returns home from her second honeymoon without her husband, Newfoundland and his sisters struggle to recreate the family and home they once knew.

Shalom Life recently spoke with Greenblatt about her quirky role, her developing career, and a unique trip she took to the Middle East last year.

Tell me a bit about your role in A Boy Called Newfoundland.

My role is Brigid, and she is Newfoundland’s sister. She’s a bit of an antagonist in a lot of ways, but the thing that’s really different and strange about Brigid is that she’s actually in love with Newfoundland. She loves everyone in the play a lot more than maybe she should. It’s a family that is very very intertwined, and what happens is the father doesn’t come back from a vacation he and the mother go on, so I think she’s struggling to understand her feelings towards everyone in the family, but specifically she has what is described by the playwright as an “uncomfortable jones for her brother.”

What drew you to the play?

I love the writing. The story is pretty normal – as I was saying before, a close-knit family and what happens when the father doesn’t come home – but the way each character interacts with the others, the way they speak the vocabulary, the things that happen – a lot of it is naturalistic, but then, you know, they’ll be going up to the Arctic in a few hours. It’s very playful and magical in that way. And I love my character. She’s badass. It’s hard – when I first read about her ‘uncomfortable jones for her brother,’ I was like ugh, you know? And it’s not something that is ever realized, but is something that she deals with and struggles with. She really owns it in a way. It’s a challenge to just dive into that and accept that about her.

How did you get into that sort of mindset?

I just had to go for it. When I first talked to the director, I was like ‘This makes me feel uncomfortable,’ and she was like ‘That’s okay, maybe it does make Brigid feel uncomfortable,’ and I think probably on some level it does, but on another level she’s really come to terms with it. So in the rehearsal I kind of came to terms with it and just really separated myself, which I think is an important thing to do with any character – separating yourself so you’re not playing yourself as the character, you really are playing that character. I do think if you are acting, you always have to fall in love with the person you’re playing on some level.

You’ve played Anne Frank twice. Does your Jewish background influence your work at all or inform your choices?

Anne Frank was certainly a role I wanted to play since I was really young, probably because of my interest in her from when I was young and reading her diary. I really wanted to play her, so it was kind of a fulfillment of that particular dream. I think certainly being Jewish affects a lot of aspects of my life. I think it had nothing to do with this role, and it’s lucky to not be only cast as Jewish because that can be limiting sometimes, but I think that it is also really exciting to be able to explore that aspect of my background. Being Jewish is a large part of my life, in different ways.

You spent two months teaching drama in the West Bank in 2009. How did that come about, and what was that like?

Well, I guess that’s what I mean in the sense that it’s a big part of my life and the choices I make. I went on Birthright with a close friend of mine, and then we really felt that if we were going to go there, we wanted to spend some time in the West Bank as well. It was right after last year’s attacks on Gaza, so it was a bit nerve-wracking, but enough people said that the West Bank wasn’t being physically affected. So we went on Birthright, and then we spent a week in Tel Aviv hanging out with a friend who was working with an NGO there, and then we spent two months in Nablus in the West Bank, teaching drama. The whole thing was an incredible and life-changing experience, but I loved being in the West Bank and working with kids and women. It was incredible, the way that drama can cross communication boundaries. I’m writing a play based on that experience as well.

You’ve done a good mix of film, theatre, and TV. What do you like about all three mediums?

I really like the collaborative aspects of them all. The thing I really like about film – and I haven’t been doing as much film and television recently – is that you work more intimately with all the different aspects of the production. The creative team is more present, while in theatre, you’re in a rehearsal hall with the director and stage manager, and then very late in the game the designers come in. Although, with this production it was exciting because a lot of the designers were there for the process more than I’ve experienced in the past. My first love is theatre probably, and I really love how you get so many times to do it. With theatre you keep on discovering it again and again.

A Boy Called Newfoundland runs until Apr. 11 at Tarragon Theatre Extra Space. For more information, visit www.theatresmash.com.