After almost two full months of grueling rehearsal every day, the fall play finally opened on Friday, November 13. This year’s selection, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, was performed in the round in the Caird Chapel. The performances were lively and believable, the staging was well done, and the technical components were spot on.

 The Tempest, the last comedy that Shakespeare wrote is the story of Prospero, played by Samantha Miorin (’10), the rightful Duke of Milan, whose dukedom had been stolen 12 years ago by his brother, Antonio (Nour Sultan, ’11). Prospero was forced to flee to a small, magical island with his daughter Miranda (Jennifer Wicks, ’10). The play follows his plot for revenge on Antonio, his plan being to shipwreck Antonio and his comrades on the same island so that he can exact his revenge. Antonio is joined by Gonzalo (Anthony Rossi, ’12), an old counselor, Sebastian (Alex Habiby, ’11), brother to the King of Naples, and Alonso (Grayson Ullman, ’12), the King of Naples, who believes that he lost his son in the shipwreck. Several other subplots also unfold. Caliban (Caleb Cushing, ’11), a deformed inhabitant of the island, seeks to murder Prospero for enslaving him by enlisting the help of Stephano (Rachel Ruller, ’11) and Trinculo (Victoria Waldron, ’11), two drunken crew members of the ship. Ferdinand (Erik Van Roey, ’11), Alonso’s son, finds love with Miranda. And Ariel (Dana Gough, ’11), an airy spirit who is in servitude to Prospero, longs for her freedom. In the end, Prospero chooses the path of virtue rather than vengeance, Ferdinand and Miranda are married, Caliban is given back the island, and Ariel is given her freedom. All of this and more happens within twenty-four hours, making a play of both comedy and tragedy.

 While the play itself and the performers were all wonderful, where would a show be without its “techies”? Anthony Gould (’11), head of technical crew, directed Matt Flynn (’12), Alex Buchanan (’13), Ryan Deitz (’11), Josh Lennon (’11) and David Barra (’10). They set up the extensive lighting and configured all of the chairs. Melanie Argoff (’10) provided an original score for the play, writing several songs to underscore bits of the show, and one meant for singing. Josh Long (’13) accompanied her in the pit on the drums. Mrs. Allonson provided the costumes with the help of Emily Bruce (’10). And, last, but certainly not least, Mr. Cummings directed the hooligan performers daily. Mr. Cummings was responsible for making the cuts to the script (turning a four-hour play into a fifty–minute one), giving all the players their blocking, and constantly drilling the performers on the occasionally unfamiliar pronunciation demanded by the language of the time.

 The players pulled together on Friday night for the opening performance of the show they had all worked so hard on. All the lines were memorized and pronounced well, all the light and music cues were hit, and the comedic timing was impeccable. The first night was, all-in-all, a success, receiving standing ovations. One audience member commented, “That was really well done. I thought the way there was no set worked for the way it was staged, and it was the right length. It was better than I thought it would be.” (Jason Ford) The second night was almost as good; some struggled a bit more without the emotional rush of the opening to propel them, but some took the time to correct small mistakes made during the opening. The second night was again another success. And what better way to celebrate than with an evening out at IHOP?

 With the play over, those involved now find themselves lost every afternoon from 3:30-5:30. This block of added free time is a new sensation to them, and they sometimes find themselves performing tasks they did not think they would, such as writing an article for the on-line paper reviewing the play.