For two months, Eric Pickard has been juggling the roles of student-athlete and Indian prince.
This weekend, the senior on the Oregon men’s tennis team stars in his first major acting role since seventh grade: Prince Arjuna, the male lead in the University Theater production “Chitra”.
The play is a love story about the relationship between Chitra, an Indian princess raised to play the male role in society and groomed for the throne by her father the king, and Arjuna, the prince she falls in love with.
Pickard initially found his role challenging because of the difficult, “almost Shakespearean” language the script has been written in.
“It’s translated from old Indian, the vocabulary’s very rich and there are a lot of very long monologues,” Pickard said.
Then there’s the matter of the blond-haired, blue-eyed Portland native playing the role of an Indian prince opposite his co-star Devika Bakshi, who is ethnically Indian.
“It was mainly white people who tried out for the (male lead) part, but none so pale as me,” Pickard said, grinning. “I was able to get away with being the blond-haired, blue-eyed Indian prince because my costume is British garb, it looks like a 19th-century British soldier’s costume, with some Indian features.
“The subtle theme in that is about western European values imposing on Indian culture. We didn’t focus too much on that, but it’s present in the costume and it’s how we got away with me being a white boy.”
Pickard auditioned for the play last spring to try to secure extra credit to boost his grade in his Acting I class, and was surprised to find that he’d won the part.
“I took that acting class last spring because I’ve always liked acting, and I had to give up acting in high school to concentrate on tennis, which was a mistake in hindsight because now I think I could have done both,” Pickard said.
Making up for lost time in his senior year of college was tricky because of his responsibilities to the tennis team.
“It’s been a huge time commitment,” Pickard said. “When we first started, I had to (check with men’s tennis coach Nils Schyllander) and make sure it was okay. Nils has made some accommodations for me to be able to do it, and he’s absolutely supportive.”
The play opened last Wednesday at the Arena Theater, and played every night throughout the weekend. Pickard says his teammates haven’t seen it yet, but that both the men’s and women’s tennis teams have promised to come watch him this weekend.
All this term Pickard has been putting in long days on campus, typically waking by 7 a.m. and balancing homework, class and tennis practice in the day, and rehearsals at night.
But he says it’s all worth it.
“I really enjoy getting to be on stage and to be in somebody else’s shoes for a while,” Pickard said. “The best thing about acting is the actual process of trying to embody another person.”
Pickard has also adopted some acting techniques from the classroom and applied them to the mental aspect of tennis.
“There’s definitely a similar rush from acting and tennis,” Pickard said. “You’re kinda nervous before you go on stage, but because I’ve done a lot of tennis and other competitive things, I deal with the nerves pretty well and am able to stay focused.
“The technique we use for that in the theater department is ‘Relaxed Readiness.’ It’s the ability to be relaxed and loose but also alert and ready at the same time. I learned that in class and have brought it onto the tennis court.”
Regardless of his newfound passion for theater, Pickard is adamant that after the final curtain comes down on “Chitra” this Saturday night, tennis and school will remain his main priorities for the rest of the year.
“It all ends after this weekend. I haven’t tried out for any more plays, which I’m kind of sad about,” Pickard said. “But if I’m going to accomplish the goals that I’ve set for myself and the team, I’m going to have to focus on school and tennis.”
Pickard has a lot to look forward to because the men’s tennis team this year is a completely different squad from the team that finished last season with a disappointing 6-16 record.
“This year’s team is like a dream come true,” Pickard said. “We’ve got a new coach, six new guys, a lot of talent and just some really great chemistry. Everyone gets along really well, and there’s so much more respect between people now. Nobody is out to get anyone else.”
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