Soldier, nurse and spy. Senior Sarah Fahrenkrug told the exciting, tragic and unknown story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, a woman who disguised herself as a man to join the Union army in the American Civil War, in her One Person Show this year.

When searching for possible characters last year, Fahrenkrug had a set personality in mind. She wanted one that would reflect her own: a strong woman who fights for what she believes in and stands up for what is right. After some trial and error, Fahrenkrug discovered Edmonds and read her memoirs; immediately, she knew that she was the perfect match.

“I was considering Bilbo Baggins for the first three years. I was so set on him, and then with all the movies coming out and all the attention the books were getting, I didn’t want to do a character that everyone already knew. I wanted to tell someone else’s story, someone’s story who had never been told,” said Fahrenkrug.

For her, the most difficult part of the process was cutting her show down. She wanted to do justice for Edmonds because she is so unknown, but she was not able to fit everything she wanted into her show. Fahrenkrug felt guilty that she had to cut her eleven page script down to seven in order to be within 30 minutes. If she had to do the process again, she would have started with a simpler storyline and focused on one very specific thing in her character’s life rather then try to condense her entire life into such a short amount of time.

Throughout her years of theater, the thing that most helped Fahrenkrug her with her show was developing the difficult skill of immersing herself into the piece.

“In theater three, we do a whole year on advanced acting where we learn how to really put ourselves into the show by using substitutions and visualizations, and that really helps me personalize the show, and really make the story true, living the story truthfully instead of just performing the show. I think that really helped me,” said Fahrenkrug.

The other thing from theater that most helped her is one of the most valuable lessons that she has learned.

“I have learned that I can do a lot more than I think I can do, and that anything is possible.”