By Sadie Finn, Alexis Larsen, and Reagan Feld
The T.C. Drama department produced their fall play The Tempest, which was directed by senior Annlouise Conrad and stage managed by junior Paul Holtz. The production was an interesting interpretation of Shakespeare’s original performance. The play premiered Friday, November 10.
The play put a modern spin on one of Shakespeare’s classics about a man named Prospero, a former Duke who was banished from his country with his daughter Miranda, who now lives on an enchanted island. At the beginning of the play, the men who banished Prospero get shipwrecked on the island.
The modern spin was the concept of two actors sharing the role of Prospero, who was played by junior Avery Johnson and junior Jefery Henao. Johnson played the “good” Prospero, while Henao played the “evil” Prospero. It was an interesting addition to the play because it helped the audience to understand his opposing motives, making the play easier to understand. It is also interesting because traditionally, Prospero is a morally ambiguous character.
The set for the play was very simplistic. They did not have huge backgrounds or complex scenery, but instead they used crates, large props, and different lightings to help the viewer understand what was happening and better describe the locations. This minimal design emphasized the complex story line, rather than the background visuals.
The costumes were very well done, especially the costumes for the non-human characters in the play, Ariel (played by Lillian Finegold-Sachs and Araceli Penoso) and Caliban (played by Nikolai Kosinski). Although the costumes were more modern than what would have been done during Shakespeare’s original performance, they did not distract the away from the plot.
Each actor knew his or her part and spoke with great fluency, which can be very difficult with Shakespearean writing. There were many monologues, which the actors spoke clearly and effectively. It was obvious that the members of the worked a long time to perfect the material. Overall, the play was fabulous and was a successful take on Shakespeare.