We here at SCP are thrilled to announce a partnership with the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council to release The Tempest over five nights in September starting on the 21st. The Arts Council will also be facilitating a lecture on Shakespeare and The Tempest the week prior on September 16th and an acting workshop for kids and teens led by a Tony-nominated stage actor the week after on September 30th. Please be sure to register for all these great events and consider making a donation to the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council!
On the heels of this great announcement, we had a chance to catch up with some of our cast members. We asked them to answer three questions:
1) What is your character’s favorite line or moment in The Tempest?
2) If you could switch roles with any other character, who would it be and why?
3) What is your dream Shakespeare role?
Read on to learn more!
Sean Tonne (Ferdinand)
1. My favorite line in the show is “And for your sake am I this patient log man”
2. If I had to switch roles with one other character from the show it would be Caliban, I feel like he’s such a interesting and weird character that could be interpreted in so many different ways.
3. My dream Shakespeare Role is Romeo, being able too play one of literature’s most famous and influential characters.
Brian Craig (Prospero)
1. “Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling / Of their afflictions? And shall not myself, / One of their kind, that relish all as sharply / Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art? / Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick, / Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my fury / Do I take part: the rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent, / The sole drift of my purpose doth extend / Not a frown farther.”
2. Stephano or Trinculo, for the opportunity to do comedy.
3. Either King Lear, Falstaff, or Iago.
Lily Grace Riddle (Miranda)
1. Honestly, I’d have to say that my favorite moment in The Tempest is when Miranda and Ferdinand meet for the first time. It’s so funny to me because of how uncultured and naive Miranda is. “What is’t? A spirit?” Like no, Miranda. That is a man.
2. I thought about the depths and personalities of each character and their roles, and I really can only say that I’d want to play Miranda. She’s so fun and I’ve spent such a long time researching and playing around with the character, that I can’t even imagine taking on the role of a different one.
3. Katherine in Taming of the Shrew!
Faith King (Trinculo)
1. My favorite moment is “I will now let loose my opinion, hold it no longer. This is not a fish” I think we really get to see Trinculo’s character there. She entertains herself and enjoys making other people laugh.
2. Probably Ariel or Antonia. I love the idea of the villain and the antagonist. Antonia is the villain, but Ariel antagonizes almost every character in the show, so she’d be all the fun of playing a villain without having to play a bad person
3. Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing or Olivia I’m Twelfth Night
Aaron “Juice” Jackson (Sebastian)
1. Favorite line: A pox o' your throat you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!
2. If you could switch: Caliban because it would be fun to explore the craziness of this character
3. Dream role: Henry V
Cynthia Dannen (Gonzala)
1. My character’s favorite moment comes at the end of Act V, when Gonzala witnesses the forgiveness and reconciliation between brother and sister, Prospero and Antonia. Gonzala then asks for blessings on the young couple, Miranda and Ferdinand, thus uniting the kingdom of Naples.
2. I would switch roles with that “airy sprite, “ Ariel, whose strength and perseverance in her pursuit of freedom wins over Prospero and unites/saves several characters. Her magic and music , her songs about a major theme, the “sea change” in the shipwrecked characters, are powerful and whimsical elements in Shakespeare ‘s final play.
3. I have always wanted to play Portia from The Merchant of Venice. She is a strong royal who is known for her famous speech in Act IV in Shylock’s trial: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed. It blesses him that gives and him that takes....”
Ray Laux (Stephano)
1. My favorite line of mine in the show is “give me thy hand I do begin to have bloody thoughts”.
2. A dream character I would most want to play would be either Rosencrantz or Guildenstern from Hamlet because I love the back and forth dialogue .
3. I would love to switch parts with Sean and play Ferdinand because I think it would be a great challenge to be a romantic lead in a Shakespeare play.
Liz Carlin (Ariel)
1. Ariel has a big monologue where she appears to some of the others as a harpy- that’s definitely my favorite piece to perform. She admonishes the group for doing wrong by Prospero and one of the lines is “For which foul deed the powers, delaying, not forgetting, have incensed the seas and shores, yea, all of the creatures against your peace.” I love this moment because time feels like it stops and we can see just how much mystical power Ariel truly holds that she commands nature to avenge Prospero.
2. I think it would be Antonia. Everyone loves playing the villain, and she’s got some great lines.
3. Queen Margaret is probably my biggest Shakespeare aspiration. I’m obsessed with her transformation over the course of the Henry VI trilogy through Richard III, from this sweet innocent new wife into a commanding Queen into the insane woman hellbent on revenge.
