Q & A with Oriana O’Hare: Teaching Artist-in-Training 2025

Oriana leading an exercise in our Improvisation Class with the Sondheim Ensemble.

Question #1: Since you joined this community in second grade and are now a senior in high school, how has your long-term experience with improv and sketch comedy shaped your personal development and your approach to the world outside of the classroom?

Improv has had a significant impact on my life. In those early years in acting classes, I discovered that acting is a core part of who I am. As an actor, specifically with improv, you have to think quickly. You have to be able to think on your feet. It's all about listening, being attentive, and being aware. As an actor, I learned those skills the most from improv. I have applied those skills beyond just acting and theater spaces. I have found that as a person, improv applies to real-world situations. There have been so many situations where I'm in a difficult spot, and it's like I have to come up with something fast, and there's no hesitation, and boom, something comes out, and it always works.

Question #2: Our work focuses on learning essential performance skills in partnership with ensemble building and collaboration. How did the skills you learned here—like spontaneity, collaboration, and building a scene or piece from scratch—inform your journey to, and your work within your specific major at LaGuardia?

Something I’ve observed about actors I’ve worked with at LaGuardia, and that I’ve seen in real life, is that they miss the importance of collaboration and working with their scene partner. It's not a competition. It's not about who's better; it's never about that. Thinking that way is always going to do the opposite for you. In my work at Fair Playhouse, I learned that your scene partner is the most essential thing in the room, more important than yourself. And I feel like a lot of times the actors fall into the mistake of focusing on their own lines, how they're saying the lines, when they're missing the most crucial part, which is focusing on the other person.

Question #3: How has improv affected your life working in collaboration with other young artists?

What I've learned from you, especially, is that it's not about yourself. It's not about you. It’s hard for a lot of actors, who love the stage, love performing, love the attention, to realize that it’s not about you. In reality, the second you start thinking about yourself, you’ve lost the character, you’ve lost it all. It's a thousand times over about the other person. Working with your scene partner rather than against them will always create better art and a more effective performance. I've seen the differences in school: when it's two people working as a team versus two people working on their own, they come together. 

You taught me a lot about the importance of the other person and the value of working together, and especially in improv, that when your scene partner says something, they’re not trying to one-up you, challenge you, or make your life hard. Everything they say is a gift, and you want to say things back as gifts for them to receive. The second you stop focusing solely on what you're saying and start listening to your scene partner and trusting them, the scene can evolve and go somewhere. 

When people in improv try to plan the scene and decide what they're going to do next, instead of listening to their partner, they’re saying, “It's my show, it's all about me.” They might have a funny joke, but the scene never truly works. 

Based on my experience at LaGuardia, the best actors are often the humble ones, those striving to become better. And you've also taught me this: even when you receive praise and validation and are doing well, don't let it go to your head. Ego can really ruin an actor, and it changes what the art is about. Ego shifts the work from being about the craft to being about being good and worthy of praise, rather than about collaboration.

Question #4: Having spent many years as students in this program, what has been the most surprising or rewarding aspect of becoming a teaching artist in training? What have you learned about improv, sketch, and community building? What are your favorite parts about being a leader in the community?

Having spent so many years as a student in this program, something that's been the most surprising or rewarding to me about the experience of training at Fair Playhouse is witnessing how some of the younger kids don’t hesitate to get up and put themselves out there. The students are not afraid to fail gloriously, make a bad joke, and be their silly little selves. I see it all the time. I'm telling you, Molly, I see it all the time. I see people as young as 17, maybe even 18, who still hold back out of fear of being judged. It’s something important that takes people forever to learn. It's so cool to see the younger kids at Fair Playhouse putting themselves out there —little kids, younger kids—showing themselves, letting themselves be willing to fail. I think that's so cool to see, because not everyone can do that, and it’s an essential skill for ultimately being successful. 

Question #5: What have you learned about improv sketch and community building?

When you are in a safe, loving space that uplifts you, you are more likely to perform better. However, with improv, it's not just important, it’s essential, because people need to feel like they won't be judged if they go up, show themselves, try something, and take a risk. Improv is different from acting because there's no script. Even with a script, things can go wrong. However, in improv, there is even more pressure. For improv to really work, it needs to be about the space, the people in the community that's around you, even for the best of the best actors. They're always going to do better in a space where they feel they can try things and be themselves. 

This is a given, and people often discuss it, but seeing it in a different environment makes a difference. LaGuardia is a competitive school; it's cutthroat —people are ranking talent in the room —and that's what stops many people. However, at Fair Playhouse, everyone does a great job of encouraging one another and also leading by example. When one kid goes up, the other kids feel like, 'Hey, I can do that too.’ My favorite things about being a community leader tie back to the satisfaction part. My relationship with Adrian is based on where we met in your class a decade ago. A lot of my best memories of Adrian and me are from your class, and that's no surprise, because it made up a huge part of my childhood. It's so cool to see the before-and-after of these relationships.

Some of those kids were like Adrian, and I was years ago, and it's so cool to see how improv and acting can really bring people together and create a loving, fun community. I love being supportive and using my own positive energy. Younger kids look up to high school kids, and I feel like I had way too many experiences outside Fair Playhouse, where high school kids weren’t as accepting of me. I really try to make the younger students feel heard. 

Question #6: As you prepare for graduation and your next steps, what is the most critical piece of advice or wisdom that you will bring with you in the next phase of your journey as a performer that you learned at Fair Playhouse?

I think the most critical piece of advice I could bring with me is your motto: "fail gloriously." I don't know what will happen to me after high school, but I hope to attend an acting conservatory program. In those programs, it's all about the most successful people. The most successful people are the people who take a crazy idea and run with it, try anything, put themselves out there, and “fail gloriously” all about that. And you can't be afraid of judgment or making a mistake, because at the end of the day, that's all part of the process. If you can't allow yourself to experiment, your character will never grow. Your character will be at the same level as it is, and it will never go anywhere. If you don't let yourself try new things in your acting, your acting will stay the same. And that goes with literally everything. If you don't let yourself try singing, music, and new things in life, you're going to be in the same spot. 

Many times, as a performer, you are ready to fail, and you're like, okay, I'm just going to do this even if other people might think it is stupid. And you actually come up with something good. You can't let ego get in the way of your work, because it's just going to hinder it if you are too worried about being perfect. 

Prince is a good example. The reason he has so many good songs is that in the recording studio, he would do one or two takes and then go with that. He wasn't a perfectionist, but he could just produce and push so much out there, and it was all great, and he kept it raw and honest. It's the same with improv. The second you really overwork it and worry too much about your performance, you end up overthinking the critical part. Or if you overwork your scenes, you say your lines too many times, you take away the realness of listening and responding, of being connected to your partner, because, like I said before, you make it about yourself, not about the other person. Thank you so much, Molly. I love you. I'll see you on Saturday.