About Abigail!
Alternatively: how Abigail went from an aspiring neurosurgeon to a theatre artist, and some of the things they’ve learned along the way.
As a child, Abigail did everything right. Their parents wanted them to be great at STEM, so they did just that. They even went to a STEM magnet program in high school, where they took classes ranging from multivariable calculus to quantum mechanics. Abigail dreamt of becoming a neurosurgeon, inspired by their grandfather’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and the book When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. They even wore a full steampunk costume — complete with a corset and bustle skirt — to a robotics competition. Yes, a robotics competition. (For those in the know: it was FIRST STEAMworks, and the pure adrenaline of being an airship pilot during district championships is unmatched.) For a time, everything was as it should be, and all was right in their world.
Until one day in 11th grade, when Abigail’s friend asked if they’d audition for their school’s one-act plays, and they thought: why not? They’d been playing classical piano and dancing since they were four years old, so performing was already in their blood. And they’d recently quit robotics, so they had way too much free time on their hands — theatre seemed like a harmless hobby to pick up. Of course, they could never have predicted how that moment would change their life.
1.5 years after that fateful day, Abigail started their new life at Fordham University as a double major in Theatre Performance and Humanitarian Studies, and they haven’t looked back since. Their time at Fordham has allowed them to explore so many aspects of theatre, from set design to producing and dramaturgy to stage managing — they’ve officially worked on 22 Fordham shows, and that’s certainly an underestimation of the real number of shows they worked on. Ultimately, they’ve learned that collaboration is impossible to master, but all they can do is try to be better and learn from their mistakes.
They’ve also discovered a passion (and talent) for intimacy direction, and they’ve taken many hours of training through both Theatrical Intimacy Education and Intimacy Directors and Choreographers. Intimacy direction is the perfect combination of everything they try to embody as a theatre artist: as Laura Rikard of TIE said, theatre is about poeticizing uncomfortable stories, and intimacy direction allows artists to confront audiences with those stories in a way that works for everyone on the process. They’ve been honored to be the intimacy director for three shows at Fordham, and they’re beyond excited to continue their journey into the art of intimacy direction.
Beyond their work as a theatre artist and intimacy director, Abigail served as one of the co-chairs of the Fordham Theatre BIPOC Alliance from 2020 to 2023, So much changed just within those three years, and it’s empowering to know that they and their friends were the force that changed a culture. Their humanitarian studies major has taught them about everything from refugee and asylum law to neocolonialism in the international development sector, and they’re planning on applying to law school in the next few years. (The way they see it, they may as well use their weird passion for writing research papers to get a degree that can make them some money.)
Of course, it’s not all work! As they’ve recently learned, taking a break can actually be fun and enjoyable — who would have known? In their spare time, you can most likely find Abigail watching a 3-hour YouTube essay about something they’ve never heard of, scouring the aisles for the best Trader Joe’s snack, or mourning the untimely cancellation of FBoy Island by obsessively re-watching seasons one and two until they’ve memorized every episode. (If anyone has recommendations of good reality dating shows to watch, please reach out to them immediately.) Above all, they love enjoying life, and they hope to bring that joy to everything they do.