Every year the Davies Theater Department puts on a play and musical. Back in November, they did their musical Crazy for You. It was a hit, with a full house almost every single night. This month, they are doing a play. This year they will be performing Williams Shakespeare’s The Tempest.The cast and crew have been working incredibly hard to make this an amazing show. Many may think Shakespeare’s work can be a little confusing or boring; however, this show is full of magic, family, love, and humor. Director and teacher here at Davies, Rebbecca Saari, has done a wonderful job putting this show together and has some great opinions and views on this show and why you should see it. However, before we get into that, what is The Tempest about?

Now, with Shakespeare, a lot of his shows have several acts and scenes that would be more condensed now in modern times. However, the general overview of the show is about Prospero, who was banished to an island with his child Miranda. Typically, Prospero is played by a man, but Saari decided to change it to a woman to make it a little more interesting. In this show, Prospero is played by Macy Wanzek and Miranda is played by Sadie Gompf. Prospero is talented in magic and uses this to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s betraying brother, Antonio, played by Liam Newman. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, played by Andrew Grothman, plots to rid himself of his master, but is touched by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel, who is played by Lauren Diers. The King’s young son Ferdinand, played by Noah Meline, thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda. Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love and decide to get married after Prospero tests Ferdinand to make sure he’s fit for her daughter. Their celebrations however are cut short when Prospero confronts his brother and reveals his identity as the Duke of Milan. Will Prosepero get revenge? Will Ferdinand and Miranda end up together?

Now that we know more about the show, let’s see what the Director, Rebbecca Saari, and the Technical Director Brian Lynchs’ vision for this show is.

Why did you decide to pick The Tempest for this year’s play?
“We wanted to fully commit to a Shakespeare play but were tossing several titles around. Brian had a design concept and I wanted a show with a fantasy element. The Tempest fit our needs in all areas.”

What is your favorite part of the show?
“I love the conflicted relationships. Each storyline has its own tension and motivation between various characters. I love watching them evolve and change throughout the story. Shakespeare seems to say – we are all complicated, we all feel, we all dream, and we all affect one another.”

Who is your favorite character and why?
“Miranda and Ferdinand. I enjoy their purity and sense of wonder. They love without conditions and embrace what is new.”

Why should people come and see this show?
“Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed. Seeing these works acted out with full technical support is a completely different experience then simply reading them. It is a beautiful story and our creative approach and design will intensify the magic and romance. Many scholars believe The Tempest was Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage likening Prospero magic to that of Shakespeare’s talent. It is only fitting that our Davies Theatre seniors will say farewell to the stage by performing The Tempest. Come and support!”

Responses from Brian Lynch
“The art installation “PolyPropylene Trees” by Tom Price was a big influence on elements of the set. I found his work through research on theatrical trees for another production and I fell in love with the effect of his work and wanted to put it in a show for a while. Landscape photos of New Zealand coastlines we’re also a big part of the research.”

What’s the most difficult part of creating the set?
The set was difficult in its texture. All of the techniques that we used were very labor intensive and asked a lot from the student crew to execute
What is your favorite aspect of this show?
What’s your favorite aspect of the show?
I think it’s a strong show for the collaboration between the cast and the crew prior to the performance. The production work and the preparation on both sides is very involved and everyone really stepped up to make it happen.

Shakespeare is important to be heard and seen, not just read. The Tempest is funnier than you think and more interesting than the words on the page.