Back on Stage

 

I enjoy doing community theater, but with Covid and other life events, it has been five years since I have been on stage. That is about to change as I am in a production of The Tempest in October. I love Shakespeare, so it was a good one with which to get back on the train. But I had some niggling concerns going in. It has been five years, and I am five years older. Would my older brain still be able to memorize lines as easily as I had in the past? Was my voice up to the challenge of projecting on stage? The memorization has gone okay, but the voice has been an issue. The voice must be trained. Like an athlete that trains their body for a sport, the voice needs practice. The muscles have to get in shape, in particular, the muscles of the diaphragm, which are not used as much in normal speech. My director keeps telling me, “louder” and he is right. My voice is not quite there yet, but it is getting there.

The character I play is Gonzalo, and I have a confession to make. Despite having seen this play a couple of times over the years, I did not remember who Gonzalo was. Prospero, Ariel, Caliban, Miranda, Trinculo, and Stephano: those characters I remembered. But Gonzalo? Not so much. Now that I am playing him, I appreciate Gonzalo. He may not have the flash of Prospero, the magic of Ariel, the monstrousness of Caliban (and Antonio), the slapstick humor of Trinculo and Stephano, but Gonzalo is genuinely a good man. He is sort of the moral center of the play and I like to think that it is his example that teaches Prospero to forgive.

Shakespeare wrote plays based on other material from other writers. This is the only Shakespeare play apparently not based on another work, although it does seem to follow some formulas of other plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in particular. This is probably the last play that Shakespeare wrote by himself, and it is a fitting cap to a remarkable career.

So, I sit here a little nervous but mostly excited to be back on stage and to be a part of an ensemble of actors who have been working very hard, pulling together to produce a work of art. O brave new world that hath such people in it!

Star Liner