It could have been the stuff of revenge or another star-crossed romance. Instead, William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” ends on a note of hope.
That’s what makes it special to Jim Bartruff.
“It starts out with all the elements of a revenge play like ‘Hamlet’ or ‘As You Like It,’” said Bartruff, the director of Emporia State University’s production. “But somewhere in the middle of the play, Prospero has a change of heart. He decides that maybe there are better things than revenge, saves the people he shipwrecked on his island and sends them into a hopeful future. You don’t get a better message than that.”
The play is considered Shakespeare’s farewell to the theater, one of the last productions he wrote before retiring to Stratford-upon-Avon. Fittingly, it is also the finale to ESU’s season this year. And its April 25 opening date falls just two days after Shakespeare’s birthday.
The play takes place on a Mediterranean island, the home-in-exile for the sorcerer Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan who was betrayed and usurped by his brother Antonio. Seeing a chance for revenge, Prospero shipwrecks his enemies in a magical storm, causing them to wash up on his island where he can deal with them at his leisure.
Meanwhile, Prospero’s daughter Miranda has found one of the shipwreck’s victims -- Prince Ferdinand of Naples, whose father is another of Prospero’s enemies. Miranda has never seen a grown man besides her father and the monstrous native Caliban, and she and Ferdinand fall instantly in love.
Between the scheming of Prospero and his enchanted spirit Ariel, the love-story of Ferdinand and Miranda, and a plot between Caliban and some of the other shipwrecked sailors to overthrow Prospero again ... well, suffice it to say that it’s a knot of the sort that only Shakespeare could untie, and does with skill.
To perform the piece, of course, takes a certain skill as well. Erin Schmidt, for example, has to walk a very careful line in playing Miranda.
“I’ve tried to approach the character with a lot of innocence and naivete,” Schmidt said. “But she's also very bright — her father has taught her a lot. ... It’s been kind of hard, a good challenge.”
That challenge includes the language, which the actors spent a great deal of time mastering before delving into the characters. After all, if the actor doesn’t know what he or she is saying, the audience won’t, either. On the upside, Schmidt said, the beautiful language also helps ensure that characters like Miranda are taken seriously.
With an exotic setting and a magical plot, technical challenges abound as well. For example, there’s the spirit Ariel which has the ability to go almost anywhere and be almost anything. To simulate the effect, Bartruff cast six different people in the role — five men, one woman — so that the ever-changing spirit’s voice can seem to come from multiple directions in rapid succession.
Student sound designer Pat Janssen, meanwhile, not only had to pull together a tempest from sound effects, but also created a musical score for the show. His score uses music created for a number of different “Tempests” over the last four centuries, with instruments that reflect the setting — the mandolins of Naples, say, or an African marimba. Mixed in is an electronic “New Age” sort of approach that gives the music a touch of the unearthly.
“This has been a one-of-a-kind experience for me,” said Janssen. “I’ve designed sound before, but this is my first time doing everything from scratch. It’s exciting as much as it’s stressful.”
It’s been a delight as well for Bartruff, who considers “The Tempest” to be unique among Shakespeare’s plays.
‘This is a man who, late in life, became a more introspective writer,” Bartruff said. “He challenged the audience to think beyond the audacity of a romance or the gore of a tragedy or the clowns of a comedy. It’s just a fascinating play. ... There’s a more life-like resolution, one that offers the possibility of hope.”
“The Tempest” runs April 25 through April 28 at the Karl C. Bruder Theatre in King Hall. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $5 for students and may be purchased at the box office or by calling 341-6378.