From such inauspicious beginnings a star was born, but not without some slight detours.
After choosing to attend the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, this young thespian elected to continue his education here at Amherst, but not with the intent of studying theater and dance. Mosley thought he would major in law, jurisprudence and social thought (LJST) and go on to law school, but things changed quickly.
The tides have turned
"Acting, singing and dancing had always been extracurricular activities of mine," said Mosley. "I came to college intent upon studying law and later becoming a lawyer, but I wanted the theater to continue to play a prominent role in my life."
At the end of his sophomore year, Mosley had yet to take a course in the theater and dance department. But he chose to spend the following summer as an intern for the Ko Theater Company at UMass. While a number of his classmates were making serious money and important connections, Mosley was working long hours for little pay doing something he loved.
"You basically were doing anything that needed to be done. One day you were stringing lighting, the next you were acting," said Mosley. "We worked all day for practically no pay. I think it was something like $150 a week, which was pretty much a food stipend. It was hard, but I had fun doing it."
When his Ko internship ended, Mosley went home and interned at his uncle's law firm, where he had weekends off for the first time all summer. "The money was great, and it wasn't really hard work, but it was hell. I hated it," he said.
As he headed into his junior year, Mosley began to think about his major and his eventual thesis. "I had a few friends who had majored in LJST and written their theses. I started to think about it and ask myself if I really wanted to write a one-hundred page paper on law," said Mosley. "One girl I knew wrote her thesis just on juries. So with the thought of summing up my education at Amherst with a paper on juries, the hellish experience at the law firm and the memory of my summer with Ko fresh in my mind, I decided to just go for it and major in theater. It wasn't really a hard decision because I had been doing it on the side all along."
With only two years left to complete the major, Mosley sought out the help of Professor of Theater and Dance Peter Lobdell. "That was it, I was going for it," said Mosley. From then on, there was no turning back.
Mosley's involvement in theater productions in the Five-College area are extensive. His first role in a play as a theater and dance major was in the student-directed "Manaco." He missed the call-back for the play and almost lost his role. "I basically begged the director-I was grovelling-to let me finish the audition. She did, and I got the part."
After completing "Manaco," Mosley's reputation began to grow in the Five-College area. Soon, directors were coming to Mosley and inviting him to work on their projects. His inability to turn down a friend's offer has often left Mosley feeling overextended.
"There have been times when I have been working on two projects at once. I will be in a play here at Amherst and another at UMass. It really can get overwhelming," he said.
Taking action
Mosley's extensive involvement with UMass theater has been largely due to the influence of his mentor, Judyie Al-bilali, a former graduate student at UMass. "She has done so much to help me, it is because of her that I have learned to truly feel at home in the theater," Mosley said.
Al-bilali, Mosley and a small group of Five-College theater students have worked to create and promote Dark Moon Productions, a UMass-based theater company. Since its inception, members of the company have been involved in each other's productions all over the Amherst area.
"It's a co-op of writers, directors, set designers and actors. One of us has a project and you will find four or five of the others working on it with them. When it started, it kept us all very busy, lately though it has calmed down. I have been working on my thesis, and everyone has a lot on their plate," said Mosley. After graduation they plan to begin work on Dark Moon NYC, a New York City -based version of the original theater company.
For Mosley, acting has not only been a loved hobby and a course of study, but it has also contributed largely to the growth of his mind and spirit. "Acting has given me so much. It has given me drive, focus, confidence and even helped me to set goals and work towards them. Every day I use something I have learned from the theater in my interactions with other people," he said.
Mosley attributes his development as a person and an actor not only to his acting experience but also the roles he has chosen to play. The way in which he gets into a character allows him to explore his own feelings more thoroughly.
"In a lot of ways, getting into a character and striving to understand where they are coming from forces you to keep in touch with your own emotions," said Mosley. "Really knowing a character, to be able to act how they would act, you have to empathize with the character. There is a part of you that can deeply understand-you just have to find it."
Understanding himself and his roles is something that is very important to Mosley, but he also values the opportunity to experience the life of another person. All of his roles have held a special meaning for him, whether he has been able to learn something from historical context or from the message of the play itself. In his most recent play, a performance of Athol Fugard's "Blood Knot" that he put together for his senior thesis, Mosley played one of two brothers living during 1960 apartheid South Africa.
"Though I wasn't alive during the '60s and haven't lived through apartheid, this role has given me a chance to see it through the eyes of someone who was there," said Mosley. "Acting can do that for you, it allows you to see life through a lot of different lenses. As the actor you are really exposed to something, more so than if you were to just watch a movie or read a book about it. The actor is able to experience the emotions and thoughts of the character as if they were his own."
Grilled chicken
Mosley's favorite role was in the UMass production of Azande's "Sanango." Mosley's character, Ruby "the chicken philosopher," dealt with many issues that were relevant to his own life. "The play is out of time and out of place, it doesn't have a setting here or now. It is about a black woman who has just had a child, and all the different people in her life represent sort of a different group of the same ethnicity," said Mosley. "The father is a black Muslim, her father is a black African with loyalties to the British Crown and a hatred for the Muslims, and her mother represents sort of a southern African-American. My character is named Ruby, and Ruby is sort of the same southerner."
Mosley was most impacted by all the different types of chicken that could be found: "His point is that though it's all different types, it's still chicken and that's the message: this unifying aspect of the black community, for all the divisions and separations we see, there are these unifying and common aspects," said Mosley. "This role and this message were real for me, I guess you could say my family is the barbecue chicken, coming from the South, whereas I suppose I am the grilled chicken breast or something like that, going to Andover and then Amherst. But in the end we are all still chicken. I like that message."
When asked about his ultimate goal-the dream he will pursue when he leaves-Mosley answered: "When I'm finished, I want to be able to look at everything I have done with pride and respect, and I would want others to remember my work and look at it with the same eyes."
Two years ago Amherst lost an LJST major, and it will soon lose an amazing performer and actor; but the rest of the world will gain a man who will no doubt leave his mark on the theater and on everyone who is fortunate enough to work with him.