Shakespeare in the Elements

Naked Shakes isn’t just a clever name; it is, in fact, completely representative of the concept. The annual program at UCSB presents Shakespeare plays cast with a mix of advanced BFA theater majors and strangers to the stage as young as incoming freshmen. The program was created by Irwin Appel two decades ago to focus on the vulnerability of the actor.

“The whole idea is to have actors in a bare space with a great text, music, choreography – and the imagination of the audience – and create magic,” Irwin said. “I call it ‘actor-generated theatricality,’ because we don’t have big sets, or a lot of special effects or even lights outdoors. It’s about the power of the actors who reel you into the story, making you feel like you could close your eyes in one moment and just listen and get the story perfectly. And then, when you open your eyes, you’re watching a visual feast of what can be done with movement, sound, and imagination.”

Put another way, Irwin said, Naked Shakes’ intentional austerity recognizes that “what the language can evoke can be more powerful than what we try to create to represent that language.” On the other hand, though, “It’s maybe the most visual and physical Shakespeare play many people have ever seen,” he said. 

That’s partially due to Appel’s longtime collaboration with company choreographer Christina McCarthy, who uses movement and physical relationships to create the landscapes, and composer-musician Jim Connolly, who fashions soundscapes and evocative musical settings that support the action on stage, he said. 

The stripped-down format isn’t about recreating shows à la the Globe Theatre in Elizabethan England, but rather “rediscovering the original impulse and excitement and freshness of when these plays were given to the audience for the very first time.” 

All those factors come together again in spades this weekend when Irwin and the company bring the current production of The Tempest to Godric Grove in Elings Park, returning to the natural amphitheater in the huge privately funded public parkon the Mesa for a second consecutive summer. It’s the first time Naked Shakes has produced the late-career work by Shakespeare since 2007, which was its second year. The enchanted story – laced with romance, intrigue, and themes of power, forgiveness, and freedom that begins with a shipwreck on the exiled Prospera’s island – also includes the phrase “rough magic,” which Appel said was the alternative name for the company if he’d not gone with Naked Shakes.

Appel considered how The Tempest reflected Shakespeare’s life and realization that it would be his last major play. 

“When he has Prospero say, ‘I will break my staff … and drown my book’, he’s talking about his own career,” Appel said. “That’s why my adaptation turns the huge pageant into a montage of Shakespeare scenes from other plays. It actually becomes like a fever dream or a nightmare or a hallucination that overtakes him and then drives the whole rest of the play.” 

Lest that sound a bit too heady for those already fearful of the Bard’s words, Appel said not to worry. 

“We pride ourselves on making Shakespeare accessible, energetic, and alive, so much so that even those who were reticent or intimidated leave [the performance] having been completely absorbed and almost forgetting that it’s Shakespeare. This has been my mission for everyone involved, from the actors to all the technical people to the audience – to have ownership in this material and know it’s for them.” 

(Naked Shakes presents three performances of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Elings Park September 11-12, and at UCSB Commencement Green on October 3-5. 

Visit www.elingspark.org or www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu/events