Formed in 2013, The Breakfast Players are a group thespians who strive to define the art of performance as not just an art or routine, but as a meaningful element of the human condition, as perfect or flawed as any person might see it. Though that significance, we aim to utilize this craft not only to perform, but to remember where we’ve come from, to acknowledge who we’ve met, befriended, and lov
ed, and to heal in our times of grief and despair. We firmly believe that the theatre is not just a place to perform, but a place to transform, and through that transformation, we can understand more about ourselves than we ever
could otherwise. The Breakfast Players ultimately came together in an effort to honor the memory of a great man we once knew. This man, Rod Baird, was an English teacher at Ardsley High School who taught us more about being thoughtful and eager humans than anyone else. One day in class, he showed us a video entitled “Hamlet and Eggs” which was a humorous parody of Hamlet. Several of the jokes stick with us today, but what was most stunning about it was that it wasn’t for a project. A group of students decided to make this video for him out of the blue, without the pursuit of extra credit or special recognition in mind. This is what he means when we say that he inspired us: we loved him, and he loved us. When we were discussing possible names for the theater group, “Hamlet and Eggs” came up, and someone suggested “The Breakfast Players” in his memory. Even today, he inspires his students, and this is why we are here today.
