By Justin Perry
Group Members
Justin, Jazmin, Jessika, Sophia, Nick, Shannon
Characters
Caliban, played by Justin and Jazmin
Trinculo, played by Shannon and Jessika
Stefano, played by Nick
Prospero, played by Shannon
Ariel, played by Sophia
Alonso, played by Justin
Sebastian, played by Sophia
Themes
When it came to decide on a specific scene, or scenes, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest the group wanted to pick a section that was representative of the play as a whole, but at the same time would maintain a more light hearted and humorous tone. With this in mind it seemed clear that we should focus on the plot set upon by Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo to usurp Prospero as rulers of the island. The plot is exemplary of the power struggles going on between Alonso and Prospero, and it fits in with themes discussed in the class. Such as the striving of lower class members to exert themselves on the world to rise up in status, as seen in Twelfth Night. As the group discussed the overall themes of the play, it was decided that the production concept should align itself with the power struggles, and treachery, which are prevalent throughout the play. Our goal was to depict these power struggles in a way that shows the absurdity inherent in the greed of the characters.
Script
In editing the script I tried to maintain Shakespeare’s central ideas and the flow of the back and forth banter between Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo. That being said larger sections of dialogue were cut short due to time constraints. Even though I feel that the script still gives a good sense of the play you would be doing yourself a favor to read these sections, and the play in its entirety, to get all of the brilliance that Shakespeare’s The Tempest has to offer.
Production Design
In choosing our roles the group wanted to break up the work as evenly as possible, but there was one problem. The sections that we are choosing to portray mainly consist of only three characters. In order to work around this, and split up the dialogue evenly amongst group members, we decided that each character would wear a mask to identify himself. Thematically this approach works because the characters are trying to outwardly present themselves as something they are not in order to become a part of society that they do not belong to.
In terms of the setting and costumes everyone in the group really chipped in by coming up with ideas and bringing in set and costume pieces. We decided to keep the setting on a deserted island, and in order to bring the audience with us to this location we hung vines from the lights around the audience, and used a fog machine to add another layer of atmosphere to the room. Jessika made one of the largest contributions to the setting by making backdrops with sound and visual cues that we were able to project onto the whiteboard. The costume design idea was that each character, in addition to having a mask, would have a distinguishing costume piece, such as a vest or hat, that would set him apart. Diminishing any confusion the audience might have over multiple people playing a given character.
Shakespeare Comes Alive! 