WARWICK, R.I. -- Sophie Bryant just started her second year at the Community College of Rhode Island, but the Smithfield native already has a loaded collegiate résumé.

She has 10 theater performances, including three Summer Rep seasons, under her belt. She’s president of CCRI Players. She plans to transfer to a four-year school in a major city after earning her associate’s degree next spring. And, most recently, Bryant's "God of Carnage" performance earned her a nomination for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

Oh, and she still is just 17 years old.

Bryant grew up in Pennsylvania but moved to Smithfield in 2022 ahead of her sophomore year. It was then that she discovered a passion for acting.

“When I moved here, I was a high school sophomore, so it was an awkward time to move,” Bryant recently told CCRI News. “I was looking for somewhere to be, some community to find. And my school was putting out the ‘Legally Blonde’ musical.

“I really bonded with the director at the time, Katherine Young, who since has passed. She really left this great mark on me -- that theater can be so fun and freeing, and you can gain so much from it.”

 

 

 

 

 

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After her sophomore year, Bryant connected with CCRI Theatre Program Coordinator Ted Clement, who welcomed her to the Summer Rep program. Bryant participated in the program again after her junior year, setting the stage for a particularly busy senior year, when she leveraged the Running Start Program to double as a freshman at CCRI.

Following another summer season, Bryant landed the role of Annette Raleigh in CCRI’s recent adaptation of “God of Carnage”, a Tony Award-winning satirical comedy that examines human nature. To say that Bryant made the most of the opportunity would be an understatement.

A Kennedy Center representative who attended one of the early October performances selected Bryant as CCRI’s nominee -- and Cranston’s Gabriella Seal as an alternate -- for the Irene Ryan Scholarship auditions. Bryant will participate in Region 1, which encompasses New England and a portion of New York.

“I was pretty shocked when I’d heard I had been nominated, Bryant said. “To be nominated so young, I did not see that coming at all. I’m thrilled I was nominated. I’m really happy that I get to go and represent CCRI at the festival.”

Bryant credited adjunct professor Anthony Goes for pushing her to step outside her comfort zone, a perquisite for acting in an off-the-wall play like “God of Carnage”.

“Before taking Anthony’s class, I had thought acting was very serious,” Bryant said. “And then I got into his class, and he was like, ‘Acting is supposed to be fun!’ Being able to reconnect with that has been very helpful. Because, for ‘God of Carnage,’ I don’t think I would’ve been able to go out there and act as crazy I did without being able to lose some of the fear I had, that things were so serious.

“Comedy is very hard to do despite what people may think. All of the jokes and language in the script must be delivered correctly to be funny. It’s all about timing, the tone of your voice. All the actors must be on the exact same page about everything. If there’s even one thing slightly shifted, the joke’s not funny.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Bryant now must pick one monologue and one scene to perform in front of a panel of judges at a regional festival next January. She’ll only have four total minutes to perform both, creating added pressure to make the right selections.

“I’m jumping right in, right now,” Bryant said. “I’m looking for pieces already and sending those to get my professors’ opinions. I have to start memorizing soon.”

If Bryant advances, as CCRI alums Max Hayden and Benjamin Card did last spring, she’ll compete for a scholarship in a national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Professor Luke Sutherland, who directed “God of Carnage”, isn’t surprised by Bryant’s success.

“Sophie is a wonderful student to work with both on the stage and in the classroom,” Sutherland said. “On stage, she has proven her range with portraying innocent Sister James in the CCRI Players’ production of ‘Doubt: A Parable’, to playing Annette Rashleigh, a wealth manager and mother in ‘God of Carnage’.

“In class, she is actively engaged and meets deadlines with outstanding work. She is the CCRI Players President, a role she takes very seriously while proving her leaderships skills every day.”

Bryant has big plans for before and after her Irene Ryan auditions.

In November, she’ll serve as stage manager for CCRI’s adaptation of “Pipeline”. She also intends to audition for “The SpongeBob Musical”, which will run in early March, shortly before Bryant earns her associate’s degree.

Beyond that, Bryant wants to continue her theater education at a four-year college in a major city – she’s considering New York, Chicago, and Portland – where she’ll pursue a bachelor’s degree in fine arts for acting.

“I really want to be in a city environment,” she said. “I can have all of this knowledge that I got at CCRI, all of these techniques, and then really build on them in a BFA program.”