The Tempest Strikes PVCC
Believed to have been written and first performed over 400 years ago, The Tempest is playing at PVCC on March 31, April 1 and 2. The cast of 18 includes students from PVCC and members of the local community who will be performing an inspired take on Shakespeare’s classic.
Adjunct Coordinator of Theatre Productions and director of this spring’s play Brad Stoller said, “I have always wanted to direct this show after a one man Tempest I saw 30 years ago that used shadows inventively and has always stayed with me as a wonderful way to explore the nature of illusion.” The pageantry of the show with its shadow play, in the cramped confines of the Black Box pulls the audience into the performance by putting them within arms reach of the actors.
Having a theatre program that, “is in wonderful shape with several dedicated students who have been returning to do many shows,” as Stoller said, is vital for the
Photographed by Tucker Poe
success of students with a passion for acting. Jennie Bottas, playing Miranda, the leading female role, said, “I’ve been acting here and there since I was three.
I definitely want to continue doing theater for the rest of my life. It started off as a hobby, but has grown into a true passion of mine.”
Four-hundred years is a long time for a play to be performed and it has given people a lot of time to interpret and criticize The Tempest. From colonial to feminist implications the play has sparked discussion for centuries. “I feel that theatre is the best medium to approach issues that are so difficult to discuss about our human condition, specifically the nature of reality. Theatre has the ability to transcend the ordinary perceptions of morality, ethics, religion, identity etc, with movement of time and space as well as a fluidity of interactions between characters,” Stoller said.
With a cast that Bottas described as full of talent, PVCC’s The Tempest is an innovatively entertaining look at one of Shakespeare’s classics. Stoller said, “I hope that the students here can take advantage of this opportunity to see this production, they will regret it I guarantee it if they miss it. It’s a fast paced, under one and half hours, show full of dance, song and spectacle of shadows and projections.”
