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Fanciful Tempest7 whirls into Howell Friday
by Carolyn Hull
Prospero:Sir I invite your Highness and your train
To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest
For this one nightwhich, part of it, J 'II waste
With such discourse as, I doubt not shall make it.
Go away quick.
With these lines spoken to Naples' King Alonse, an
invitation is given to an evening of interesting
discourse that will make the time pass quickly.
Such an invitation will again be in order when
William Shakespearre's The Tempest opens Friday at
UNL's Howell Theatre.
This semester's final mainstage production, set on
an island, weaves a tale of. events concerning
Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan and his
daughter, Miranda. The two were cast out of Milan by
Prospero's brother, who had ursurped the title.
Prospero, always a scholar more inclined to study
than action, uses his white magic to raise a tempest
which brings the ship carrying his brother, the Prince
of Naples, Ferdinand and companions to an island.
Protected by Ariel, a lively mischievous sprite who is
Prospero's servant, they all arrive safely.
As fate (and Prospero) would have it, Ferdinand
and Miranda meet and fall in love. After bringing his
brother to the island to get revenge, Prospero relents
and gives his forgiveness instead. The group then
departs to Naples to see the young lovers wed.
The show's director, Tice Miller, associate
professor of dramatic arts, says The Tempest is a
show he has studied at length and always wanted to
produce.
"This play came at the end of Shakespeare's
career, written sometime after 1611. It deals with a
lot of questions he had about being human. Ideas
from his major plays, love, revenge and civilized man.
come together in Tempest, Miller said
"Shakespeare puts these ideas across well. I feel
my job as director, then, is to make the piece
theatrically exciting to the audience. The show js not
designed to be talky or of interest to intellectuals
only, but I've attempted to give it a lot of movement
and life," Miller said.
The stage is set with a large rock that is
occasionally shifted to indicate a change of locale in
the action. Props are used to give suggestions of detail
jo the setting.
'The lighting and sound effects set both the locale
and mood of the scene," said Daniel Stratman, stage
manager. Approximately 16 areas have to be
. specifically lit on stage, not only so the actors can be
seen but also to effect moods such as day and
evening.
. Properties were designed from prints by Aubrey
Beardsley, 19th century noveau artiste.
"They are done in simple, but bright, flambouyant
colors, in keeping with the style of the show," said
Robert Stelmach. property desigiber for the show.
"Shakespeare is very fluid, scenes flow from one
another," Miller said. Often, one group of actors
enters, beginning a scene as the previous one ends.
With light and sound cues integrated into the action ,
the pace rarely slows. ' i
The dramatis personae are interpreting the same
liveliness and excitement into their characters.
"As in any show, I hope to contact the audience,
excite them about my character and sweep them up
in the action. The worst thing to happen to a show is
when the audience is indifferent. The emotional
exchange between an actor and the audience is what
theater is all about," said Mitch Tebo, who plays
Ariel, a sprite and servant to Prospero.
"Ariel is quick, fun-loving, teasing ... he loves to
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do the things Prospero asks of him. He serves out of
loyalty and gratitude to Prospero wno reieasea mm
from a spell which had him imprisoned in a tree,"
Tebo said.
Playing a super-natural being who is not human
created a special problem in the characterization of
Ariel.
"I'm trying for the feeling that he is not human
and focusing on exactly what about him makes him a
spirit through his emotions and movement," Tebo
said. "It's very important to realize that he is a fully
developed consciousnesseven though he is not human.
The three dimensionality in his character must be
brought out.
"There is a danger of the 19th century stereotype
of a beautious creature who floats around the stage
but actually has no character."
Dana Mills, doctorial candidate in theater, is cast
as Prospero, the master of the island and rightful
Duke of Milan. He spoke about producing a
Shakesperian play.
"This should not come off as 'we're doing
Shakespeare because it's a cultured thing to do' but
because it is an interesting play that has meaning to
it. It is theatrically enjoyable, not a heavy piece that
has to be suffered through. In the play Shakespeare
tries to bring together some of the major themes of
the earlier part of his career. It also shows how he
reconciled himself to the world and accepts the effect
he has on it.
"This is that he feels man ultimately has no effect
on the world but while he is here he can choose to
make his time on it constructive and full of life or
destructive and full of death. Yet the whole western
culture has been affected by this man," Mills said.
in Tempest Shakespeare speaks through Prospero.
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself.
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve.
And like this insubstantial pageant faded
Leave not a rock behind. We are such stuff
as dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The "stuff of dreams" he believed would. melt
away has lived over 360 years and will live again on
the Howell Theatre stage May 5-13. A night of
fantasy, magic, dance and life.
J,
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PAGE 14
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1972