the tempest
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Benjamin Cole
Original Music & Sound Design, Live Stream by Melanie Chen Cole
Theatre School @ North Coast Rep
Due to the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, the Theatre School @ North Coast Rep moved all summer camps, rehearsals, and productions online. Because of the large number of students who auditioned, the director decided to take on two different casts (Water Cast/Wind Cast).
Original music was composed for Ariel and the same tunes were taught to both Ariels. Both casts were encouraged to make their own discoveries, and, therefore, some of the blocking and timing varied. The Water Cast had a majority of cast members who were able to use Zoom virtual backgrounds on their devices while the Wind Cast had a majority of cast members could not. Creative ideas were born out of technical limitations and possibilities, and both casts found a way to make this production their own.
The director was interested in keeping the performance live. This was achieved by broadcasting the show onto Twitch (traditionally used by computer gamers to share their screen in their online adventures). With the used of Streamlabs OBS, the audience did not join the Zoom Room with the actors. Instead the audience watched on the Theatre School’s Twitch account.
