Senior Rishabh Chandra performs in last fall play

Senior Rishabh Chandra plays a lead role in his last fall play of high school. Throughout his four years as part of the Harker Conservatory, he has played a variety of characters, ranging from an Indian restaurant owner to the father of a girl who committed suicide.

In “The Laramie Project,” he plays Dennis Shepard, Matthew Shepard’s father; the priest who runs Matthew’s vigil after his death; Greg Pierotti, a reporter for the Tectonic Theater company; and Detective Sergeant Hing, who investigates Matthew’s case.

He found that the truthfulness of the of the story and the reactions of the characters in The Laramie Project greatly resonated with him.

“There are people who are pressed in our world because of who they are, and we need to understand that,” he said.

Although this play has a serious tone, Rishabh has mostly played comedic roles in his performances. His favorite role so far is Bottom from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” last year’s fall play.

“I’m a fairly exuberant person, and the kind of comedic roles I’d gotten in the past were meant to match that,” he said. “A lot of the things that are aspects of [Bottom] are not things that I see similarities in myself.”

His favorite aspect of performing is the effect that his characters can have on audiences, especially in comedic roles.

“It’s a lot of fun because you know that at least on some level, you’re making someone feel a little bit better,” he said. ”Maybe not in a tremendously life-changing way, but at least for like five minutes.”

He feels sentimental that this is his last year in performing arts at Harker, especially because he does not plan to pursue acting in college.

“I was a very different person four years ago,” he said. “Taking part in the performing arts gives a very different take on how you approach things in your daily life. You can go out and learn things about yourself in a way that science class doesn’t teach you.”