New Jersey Stage November 2014 | Page 23

are and find the humanity within what people can call a villain. None of these people are just bad. I love to dig in and see what they are all about.” Now living in Maplewood, NJ, Fahrner is excited to finally perform at Paper Mill. Her husband, whom she met during the one play they did together, has performed several shows there. She says he tends to be in big, dance heavy shows, which aren’t her forte. Ironically, she is returning to the role which earned her a very humorous review. When Fahrner played Jovie at Walnut Street Theatre last year, one reviewer raved about how believable she was playing a socially inept person. “I think that’s my favorite review I’ve ever gotten,” said Fahrner. “It’s like ‘She’s never been on stage before, she’s just standing there awkward’ and that makes me so happy because I think as an actor we strive to be normal on stage — to be a normal person. And sometimes that can be very hard. People are scared to sneeze or cough on stage, but normal people sneeze and cough. “There are people that are really uncomfortable with an elf running around and making a ruckus when they don’t want to be noticed,” continued Fahrner. “And that was the way we played it in Philadelphia. The review made me so happy because it v2W