OU Theater School puts new spin on Bard's final act of wizardry

A cast of fantastical creatures, a depraved magician and a royal family articulate William Shakespeare's "œThe Tempest." But the stage steals the Ohio University School of Theater's spring production.

The play opened last night, and runs tonight through Saturday, and May 13-16, in the Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall.

Set designer Warren Stiles put three steel platforms together and placed hydraulic-powered legs underneath to power a moving stage.

The Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater stage is bare, usually without props or changing scenery, during the production. But the movements drive home the magical abilities of the play's protagonist, Prospero.

When Prospero wants to sit, one section of the stage will quietly pop up. If Prospero's spirit servant (known as Ariel) wants to dance around, the back section will elevate for a backdrop platform.

"William Shakespeare was the Jerry Bruckheimer of his day," said "The Tempest" director Andy Felt, a third-year master of fine arts student at OU. "He was the producer everyone wanted to see, and I think that's what makes him great even today."

Bruckheimer made his name producing big budget Hollywood action dramas such as "Top Gun," "Armageddon" and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. Felt said he wanted to create that type of drama by incorporating vibrant imagery to accompany Shakespeare's dialogue.

Felt studied in England as part of his graduate program. He viewed Shakespeare in theaters recreated to mimic the places where the performances were originally performed. When he saw "Othello" at the Globe Theater, Felt said they used a bare stage to create a show driven by Shakespeare's words.

But Felt wanted to go beyond Shakespeare's drama for his presentation.
"We're trying to push the limits of not only 'The Tempest,' but of Shakespeare overall," Felt said. "My goal is to make it as interesting as possible while still keeping the language."

The costumes, sound and other imagery used in the performance resemble surrealism, Felt said. Surrealism was an early 20th century style of art that stressed the subconscious and the fantastic. Felt's inspiration came from painter Rene Magritte, he said.

A storm sequence sets the surrealist stage at the performance's opening. Prospero, played by OU graduate student Chris Martin, spins his magical umbrella, which stirs up a storm. A strobe light plays lightening while thunder noise bangs on Prospero's cue.

An image of water projects on the background, and a woman dressed in white with a model boat on her head dances to illustrate the rocking ship.

"Normally, (Prospero) is treated like an old, mystical master," Martin said. "When I read it and when Andy (Felt) read it, we just really thought he was an odd guy. He's an odd bird, and I like odd birds."

"The Tempest" was the first Shakespeare play Martin read all the way through, he said. Now Martin is addicted to the plays of the man he calls the movie mogul of his time.

Prospero was another outlet for Felt to express his take on Shakespeare's play. Felt chose a traditional long-white haired, tall appearance for his portrayal, but emphasized the character's complexity.

"The common perception is Prospero is like Gandalf [the white wizard in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy] or Merlin, but we want to challenge that," Felt said. "The text says he's a dreamer sitting in his study all day thinking of magic, science, literature and the tangible world. So we emphasized all of his character with attributes like the Da Vinci drawings on his garment."

One of the most elaborate costumes is that of the two Ariels. The play calls for just one Ariel, but Felt split the character into two parts to emphasize the character's split personality.

OU junior Megan Brown dresses in a full-body red spandex suit covered in feathers to play Ariel Dark.

"I play the feisty Ariel, the angry sprit of fire," Brown said. "The way I found the character was through movement. It's not a human, so you can make it into anything you want. And the costume helped to liberate me to act that out."

"The Tempest" is playing at 8 every night through Saturday, and then May 13-16. An additional 2 p.m. matinee is set for Saturday, May 16.

The Kantner Hall box office is open Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m.