Lisa Bol

What you’ve seen her in at OU:

• Maureen, All This Intimacy
• Olivia, Worse Than Tigers
• Barb, Swimming in the Shallows
• Spring Jaques, As You Like It
• Madame Ranevskaya, The Cherry Orchard
• Dotty Otley/ Mrs. Clackett, Noises Off

Does one role stand out amongst the rest?

It’s a tie. Olivia in Worse Than Tigers (from the Seabury Quinn Jr. Playwrights’ Festival). It was just like a magical production. Shelley Delaney directed it. It was just three of us. It was work that I basically I gave my heart to. … I feel like once in about every six years you do a show where the universe just aligns and it’s perfect. And then it would be Dotty in Noises Off because it was an entirely different role. It was all out amazing.

What will you miss most about OU?

Our family. We basically have become this family. So obviously the classmates and being in the room with them. The playwrights — I’m going to miss getting the opportunity to work with new work on a weekly basis.

Who do you think has impacted you the most at OU?

What’s great about our faculty here, they all bring something different to the table but they all have our best intentions. … I’m sure it’s a resounding Shelley for everyone initially. I mean she’s the reason I came here when I met here. I was like, ‘Wow you are the most caring, open hearted person I’ve ever met, and I want to follow you into the fire.’ … I think being encouraged to really let go and follow your impulses and desires has really been the best. … I’m just so grateful for the last three years to just do this work and to learn and to grow and to see my growth and the growth of my classmates and to know that we are stronger and better from this.

What advice do you have for the incoming graduate acting class?

Trust that what they’re telling you is to your benefit. Trust that these exercises will make you better because they are hard. They are emotionally exhausting but they will make you better. Trust it. It’s so hard when you’re in it sometimes. Just keep going and take advantage of as much of this opportunity as you are able to. … And love this city because it’s so unlike any other place.

What are your plans for the future?

I’ll be in A Midsummer’s Night Dream in Marietta. Then I’ll go back to Minnesota and then the husband and I, it’s looking like we’re going to New York. … I want to be somewhere where there are a lot of opportunities to run and try and fail and try again.