By Alayna Een and Eliza Een
Front Row Reviewers joined the Grassroots Shakespeare Company (GSC) for a special edition show on May 15, as the company performed an unrehearsed version of The Tempest from their upcoming summer season. GSC prides itself on “performing Shakespeare like Shakespeare did,” with limited rehearsals, fluid casting, live music and sound effects, and a rowdy crowd of groundlings. After two weeks of formal rehearsals, GSC will take this show on the road, so you can see a polished performance at a park near you! But for the more adventurous (and forgiving) Shakespeare aficionados, GSC’s unrehearsed shows let you see a bare-bones version of the Bard performed on-the-spot by actors under unusual pressure. And the outcome is always delightful.
Shakespeare’s The Tempest takes place on a desert island where Prospero, a duped duke, and his daughter, Miranda, have lived since they were forced out of their kingdom by his usurping brother, Antonio. A sorcery-induced shipwreck scatters the seafarers on all sides of the island, and Prospero works with his wind sprite, Ariel, to set a complex plan to reward old friends, punish scheming foes, promote Miranda’s prospects, and restore his lost dukedom.
With a mouthful of monologues, Katherine Moulton (Prospero) weathers the storms of this demanding character in her debut on the Grassroots stage. Her parental approach to Prospero highlights both the firm and commanding figure and the kid-coddler. She speaks clearly and with authority throughout, seeming to command even the elements in the evening’s blustery moments. Miranda Maurin’s Miranda sparkles with Malibu Barbie sweetness that plays well against Kira Halterman’s devoted and sincere Ferdinand, and it was hard to believe that it was the pair’s first go at the roles.
Drake Hansen is a veteran of the Grassroots stage, but he takes it this time in what may be his strangest role yet: Caliban. He brings humor to the crouched, pathetic outcast as he tries the favor of new masters Trinculo (Kaden Caldwell) and Stephano (Jeanelle Huff)—country clowns in their own right.
Alex Vaughn (Antonio) and Daisy Sherman (Sebastian) are the vile villains of the isle, quickly determining to dispatch the unsuspecting current rulers. But the laughing audience will agree that they succeed more in comedy than at murder. The melancholy king Alonso (Amber Ethington) retains regal bearing amid the chaos of the plot in addition to the calamity of an unrehearsed production. Faithful Gonzalo (Brenner Finch) follows along while hilariously missing some key points of the plot.
Finishing out the cast is the magical spirit, Ariel (Alyssa Vaughn) who carries out the bidding of Prospero with both excited confidence and occasional flustered reluctance. There are a few parts in the script where Ariel sings, and Alyssa Vaughn’s impromptu pop-culture serenades were short but hilarious.
The live band and sound crew contributed to the comedy of the performance with some poorly timed thunder strikes along with their usual fare of sound effects, reminding the audience of just how many things have to go right in a play by occasionally getting them wrong. We laughed as unprepared “spirits” and half-dressed fay stumbled in late, hurriedly laid a “banquet” of Goldfish and marshmallows, and then took it away too soon. An actor’s cry of “Prithee” prompted a line from the assigned script reader, and one of the most fun things to watch was how the actors either did or didn’t break character when crying for help.
One of my favorite things about GSC shows is that regardless of the play, the location, or the circumstance, everyone is having fun—audience, actor, and audio performer alike. The collaborative actors challenge themselves in dozens of different ways by performing without group preparation, preparing their own costumes, directing their fellow cast members, following condensed practice schedules, and giving everything they’ve got to an ever-eager audience.
The Grassroots Shakespeare Company will start its summer tour throughout Utah soon, reaching more audiences than ever before, so follow the troupe on social media to find the dates and locations near you. And there are more no-rehearsal shows in the future too, if you’re in the mood for a lot of laughs and a little Shakespearean “The Play That Goes Wrong.” It really doesn’t take much to tempt us to see The Tempest with such an excellent troupe!
A review by Front Row Reviewers.
The Grassroots Shakespeare Company presents The Tempest by William Shakespeare
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