Drama rides out ‘tempest’ to deliver ‘brave new world’
For a few, tempest-tossed days on stage, the Wildcat drama club brought forward the sort of “stuff as dreams are made of.” In a challenging change of pace, the young thespians tackled William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, amping up the Bard’s traditional styles during the April 25-27 run at the Alberta Kimball Auditorium. The play explored mixing heritage with modernity and was directed by newcomers Alexis Novak and Logan Martilla.
Disguises, lies, and tricks make Shakespearean plays tricky to follow, but Novak took pains to break it down to important plot points.
“In The Tempest, there is a man, Prospero, living on an island,” she said. “He had a bunch of power. He was banished to this island, and when he finds out that his enemy brother’s ship is passing from the wedding, he sends out some magical creatures to create a large seastorm and get them stranded.”
The storyline of The Tempest explores moral quandaries of forgiveness and freedom. Martilla, a chemistry instructor in his other life, appreciates the play’s uniqueness in comparison to other classics.
“It comes to a reckoning of who banished and backstabbed who,” he said. “It’s also one of the only Shakespeare plays where someone doesn’t die. For this reason, it can be a little lackluster in comparison to other Shakespeare plays, but it all follows a straightforward path to the resolution of bad blood.”
Novak, an English teacher and drama advisor, respects the Shakespearan tradition, citing it as a motivation for choosing The Tempest.
“I believe that every actor should have some experience with Shakespeare, even if they don’t pursue acting after high school,” she said. “It’s a challenging thing to do, but it brings you back to where theater began.”
Martilla believes that the comparative simplicity of the play, compared to other Shakespearean works, also made it an appropriate choice.
“It’s pretty straightforward, and one of the easier Shakespeare plays to perform,” he said. “Also, if the audience doesn’t understand something, they’re not going to like it. That’s why, say, Hamlet wasn’t chosen.”
The Tempest was first performed on November 1, or ‘Hallowmas,’ in 1611 during the reign of King James I of England. It is believed to be the last play written solely by Shakespeare. For this reason, many consider the work to be the playwright’s last hurrah.
“The assumed reason about why Shakespeare wrote this play is that it was about him giving up power,” Novak said. “This is shown in Prospero reconnecting with people from his past and being banished on the island. The author was really pushing that power back to where it came from.”
Students portrayed a variety of colorful characters from the original Jacobean production. Sophomore Grace Schellinger, who played Stephano, will never forget the moment the spotlight hit her face.
“My favorite part was the first time I got to enter on stage in character,” she said. “I was singing my song with a bottle in hand and just happy to be alive.”
Forming a comedic duo with Stephano is Trinculo, played by freshman Oliver VanThiel. Her deceiving ploys and absence of morals gave her a role filled with sinister fun.
“I played Trinculo, who is a jester,” she said. “I plot murder, no biggie.”
Some had the opportunity to perform as multiple characters, such as sophomore Kiki Sikes. Each character provided a new perspective and challenge.
“I played Francisco, the King’s servant,” she said. “But I was also Ceres, who is the goddess of agriculture. I loved her character so much.”
The protagonist, Prospero, a complex magician whose position as Duke of Milan was usurped upon exile, was portrayed by sophomore Mikayla Stowe. Though staying true to the storyline was important to the directors, Novak and Martilla switched the gender of the main character intentionally. Novak hopes this change communicates the club’s willingness to take a risk for the purpose of hitting a bigger meaning.
“Our Prospero was played by a female cast member,” she said. “We’re touching on the difference in power between men and women this way, and it’s kind of fun that we can tweak it.”
Martilla believed it was important to highlight that strict gender roles in classic theater are not always necessary.
“We kind of put our own spin on that,” he said. “We threw a lot of male roles in with women to prove that the context shouldn’t be seen in the lens of gender but rather as a story of magic and the resolution of bad blood.”
The lead role may sound prestigious, but it doesn’t come without hardships. Stowe needed a little push onto the stage, which she is grateful she received.
“I love plays and I love acting because it’s so much fun,” she said, “I wasn’t even going to join at first because I was stressed out, but I knew that if I didn’t, I would regret it and miss an opportunity.”
Stowe admitted that getting the lead in a renowned Shakespeare play was daunting.
“Even after getting my role and reading it over, I still didn’t understand what was happening,” she said. “First of all, there are a lot of scenes and lines, and I had never taken on such a big role before. With a lot of lines and the crazy language, I didn’t exactly know what was happening, and it was really jarring at first.”
Learning to understand language from a text written centuries ago and successfully translate this into performance proved to be the most significant challenge the cast faced. Schellinger was grateful that the directors put aside time for quality analysis before official rehearsals began.
“A challenge of ours was interpreting the language,” she said. “Thanks to our directors, they gave us a full week to go over what our lines meant, and that helped us become better performers.”
Luckily, Novak’s toolbelt is full of ways to reduce the process of memorization.
“Memorization and comprehension is definitely the biggest challenge because you basically have to translate a new language,” she said. “We did this by reading Shakespearean language and trying to put it into modern words so it was easier to understand. We did lots of script analysis, and spent about a week in a classroom analyzing the history to prepare.”
Much to Martilla’s surprise, dancing became an initial bump in the road.
“Another thing was the dancing, which nobody expected,” he said. “We had to do a little bit of choreographing, which was whiplash for some of the cast.”
However, overcoming challenges provided students with the chance to participate in numerous activities and develop new skills. One skill cast members got a hand in trying was set building, according to Martilla.
“You learn to paint, you learn to build,” he said. “A lot of the set was made by students, and they did amazingly. But through involvement in plays, you also learn to stay organized, manage deadlines, memorization, and so many other fundamental skills.”
Taking part in the production of a play meant something different for everyone involved. Freshman Thomas McDowell, who played the boatswain, got the opportunity to be a part of something he missed out on when he was younger.
“As a kid, I quit a play production at one point, which I now really regret,” he said. “I went back and fulfilled that lost opportunity through The Tempest.”
Freshman Lucy Amel wanted to continue involvement and build experience in West productions.
“I really like Shakespeare, and I was also in the One-Act play, so I figured I would join,” she said. “West plays offer a really welcoming environment where everyone can be themselves. They’re also good for learning and experiencing multiple literary aspects, like dramas versus comedies.”
Stowe knew that the play would be a beneficial experience, and faced the challenge. She was able to gain friendships as well as positive memories.
“I did the play because I knew it would be worth it in the end,” she said. “Not only did I get to meet a lot of new people and friends, but I truly thought it was really fun. You get to immerse yourself in the whole story and become part of it. You get to be the storyteller, and I think that’s so amazing.”
Novak appreciates the community found in creating with and performing for others in theater.
“It’s a really great opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself,” she said. “Being a part of a play production allows you the chance to work hard and be proud of something, but it just adds another level when you see the reactions of the audience and those around you at what you accomplished.”
Schellinger concurs that through the inevitable highs and lows of putting together a successful production, seeing the crowd on opening night always makes it worth it.
“When I look into the audience a split second before I speak and see lots of people there, it gives me confidence to know that they took time out of their day to see us,” she said. “That means a lot.”
by Phoebe Fletcher
Published April 28th, 2025
Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue VII