For the first time in four years, the Barstow Upper School and Middle School have donned their doublets, corsets and pantaloons to, with the help of Dr. Markley, Mr. Kohler, and Mr. Luce, put on another Shakespearean play, The Tempest. Despite magical storms and shipwrecks, the cast managed to pull off 3 amazing performances, all while keeping their crowns from falling off.
“It’s all good, good, merry, merry fun times,” said Giselle Potts ‘26
This year’s Upper School Play, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, was a hit. The final show was on March 4th with the other shows being on March 2nd and 3rd. It was a whirlwind of magic and murder plots all tied together with a beautiful story of young romance.
The Tempest’s plot centers around 4 main storylines, one romantic and beautiful story of Prospero, a wizard, and his daughter, Miranda who falls in love with the prince Ferdinand. The next is the story of lies and betrayal, the Royal Court, Queen Alonsa, her advisor, Gonzala, and her brother, Sebastian along with Antonio, Francisco, and Adrian. The third is the jokers, Caliban, a slave to Prospero, Trinculo and Stephano, two members of the Queen’s ship who were lost on the island. Lastly the enchanting story of Ariel and her sprites, who are servants to Prospero and do his magical bidding around the island.
The actors in this year’s production worked so hard for just about 2 months to fully grasp and understand not only the play, but the type of language it was written in. Luckily, they had the help of Mr. Kohler, the theater director, and Mr. Luce, the English teacher.
“The relationship I have with this language is difficult. I struggle to memorize lines for regular plays and musicals, but once I understand the language I get better at putting them together,” said Elizabeth “Lizzie” Boyce ‘23.
Even with the language difference, the actors still truly embodied and helped bring life to their characters, and in a way their characters helped them too.
“It’s fun to explore new characters, and you can take parts of that person you like and embody them yourself. For example I like Miranda’s compassion and I try to tie that into my everyday life” Lauren Rothhaas ’25.
Theater gives you the opportunity to be someone that you couldn’t be normally. It gives you the opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes and learn from it. The actors work hard and it all eventually paid off with 3 amazing shows.
But the actors weren’t the only ones working hard during the show, Dr. Markley single-handedly controlled both the lighting and the sound cues throughout the show. Despite the show being over 400 years old, the directors helped bring it into the 22nd century with the stunning special effects and music.
“The sound effects made it ten times better, and the lighting effects made it ten times better too,” said Lucy McEachen ’27.
The show truly used the full extent of Barstow’s AV abilities with music, lightning and thunder effects, and many projections on the proscenium that was there for the show. One scene in which Prospero’s servant, Ariel, disguised as a harpy, threatens the queen and her court was a spectacle of special effects and costuming. Ariel, played by Judith “Mimi” Wood ’26, stands on a large platform with two wings on either side of her, controlled by the ensemble. Lightning flashes on the faces of the terrified royal court as thunder booms around them. Ariel is seemingly yelling what is actually a pre recorded monologue controlled by Dr. Markley. This scene was a marvel to watch, and only possible thanks to Dr. Markley and the Stage Manager, Ahna Chang ‘23.
That wasn’t the only thing going on backstage though, when the cast wasn’t lords, ladies, monsters, and wizards, they were friends.
“We all just get along so well. It’s just such a welcoming place and you can be yourself mostly because everyone else here is also being themselves” Riley Allen ‘27
The energy backstage was fun, despite everyone being tense that they would forget their lines or trip on the bottom of their gown. Everyone was laughing or singing or telling their friends to break a leg. It’s a space where everyone could be themselves and be supported by everyone else in so many ways whether it be helping their friend run lines or lending someone their blush.
The Tempest show was a thrilling show to watch and an even more amazing show to perform in. Though it is too late to watch it now, four years from now Barstow will have another Shakespeare play. Though most of the actors will be different, I’m sure that the theater magic will be just as amazing as before.
