The Tempest Review

      "The Tempest," a play by William Shakespeare, was performed by the Department of Music and Theater Nov. 14 to the 18. The play, is described as a hybrid by the director, Melissa Fougler. Fougler’s inspiration for the layout of the play came from a recent experience she had in New Orleans.
     “The design is loosely based on the colorful and eclectic atmosphere of New Orleans,” Fougler said in her Director’s Notes.  
     "The Tempest" was presented in a modern context, but was true to the story and language written by Shakespeare. The lengthy and intricate language of Shakespeare did not prove to be too much of a challenge to the actors, though. 
     Freshman Chris Venable, who fulfilled the part of Alonso, describes his experience of the discipline of Shakespearean language to be “not too bad.”
     “Getting the exact wording of the lines took some work. You had to say something that didn’t inherently have a great deal of meaning to a modern audience, or even you, and give it meaning in the way you said it.” Venable, who is in his fourth year of acting, said.
     Freshman Evan Fields, who played the part of the female character Ceres, also says that speaking the Shakespearean language was enjoyable.
     “I find Shakespeare fun,” Fields said.
     Fields played one of the most memorable characters, wearing a skirt and fishnet tights.
      “It was something I had never done before, and I knew it would be a challenge. It turned out to be a lot of fun.” Fields said of his experience performing in a female role.
     To make the cast of play, the actors and actresses prepared a monologue from a Shakespearean play and also had to do well with a “cold read” for which they were not prepared. Fields performed a one minute monologue from “Loves Labours Lost.”
     “My monologue was Benedick’s from ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ and the cold read was from ‘Sylvia’, I think. I thought my monologue went better than my cold read, but the cold read seemed to go over better,” Venable said of auditions.
     The actors and actresses clearly put a lot of work into the play. Rehearsals for "The Tempest" started in October with working to get the testy lines and unfamiliar characters down.
     “I prepared from day one until the show. I just tried to get a good understanding of my lines and character,” Fields said.
Fields and Venable, who both acted in plays at their high schools in Suwanee and Augusta, believe that theater is different in college.
     “When I first auditioned and saw how everyone acted, I felt completely outclassed. The talent pool here is much better than at my high school,” Venable said.
     Fields feels that theater in college is much more professional than it is in high school.
     “All of the students take great pride in their work. It is not something that they have to do, but something that they want to do," Fields said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 30 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry