First Folio is Gone, but Love for Shakespeare Continues
March 5, 2016
!["This was a Herculean task that we've taken on; fortunately we have actors and designers who are up to it," said Brent Gibbs.](https://cdn.uanews.arizona.edu/s3fs-public/styles/uaqs_gallery_thumbnail/public/gallery-media/ff_azrt_bts_017.jpg?itok=Wl-FOJOy ""This was a Herculean task that we've taken on; fortunately we have actors and designers who are up to it," said Brent Gibbs.")
Brent Gibbs directs actors Kevin Black and Scott Murdock, in a pose for a photoshoot in costume and makeup for “The Tempest.”
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Brent Gibbs gives actors Charlie Hall, who plays Caliban, and Kevin Black, an associate professor of practice in the School of Theatre, Film and Television who plays Prospero, direction.
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Scott Murdock, a junior in the BFA acting program, plays Sebastian in “The Tempest.”
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Charlie Hall, a junior in the BFA musical theater program, poses in Caliban makeup during a photoshoot while Tyler Reaser, a junior in the BFA acting program who plays Miranda in “The Tempest,” takes a photo in the background.
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Marcus Myler, a UA sophomore, serves as the sound designer for “The Comedy of Errors.”
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Jack Meng, a graduate student in the technical direction program who serves as the assistant technical director for both productions, puts up boards during the changeover between the two plays.
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Hanna Lockhart, a senior with the School of Theatre, Film and Television, is the technical director for both plays.
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Andi Pratt, the set designer for both plays, supervises the changeover of the set from “The Tempest” to “The Comedy of Errors.” Pratt, a masters student in the set design program, started with the set design in August.
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Kasey Caruso, a sophomore in the BFA acting program, walks back to the set after a break during final tech rehearsals for “The Comedy of Errors.” Caruso plays Antipholus of Syracuse, one of the main characters of the play.
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Brent Gibbs directs nearly the whole cast, which will perform in both plays.
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Brent Gibbs gives feedback to actor Zackry Colston, a senior in the BFA acting program who plays one of two Dromeos in “The Comedy of Errors.”
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Zackry Colston and Ethan Kirschbaum, both seniors in the musical theater program, wait for their entrance during the final tech rehearsals.
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Brent Gibbs watches during the final technical rehearsals for “The Comedy of Errors.”
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Brent Gibbs gives his cast notes during the final technical rehearsals for “The Comedy of Errors.”
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Brent Gibbs meets with his technical team after the final technical rehearsals.
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!["This was a Herculean task that we've taken on; fortunately we have actors and designers who are up to it," said Brent Gibbs.](https://cdn.uanews.arizona.edu/s3fs-public/styles/uaqs_full_width_lg/public/gallery-media/ff_azrt_bts_017.jpg?itok=1UG5f1Hp ""This was a Herculean task that we've taken on; fortunately we have actors and designers who are up to it," said Brent Gibbs.")
"This was a Herculean task that we've taken on; fortunately we have actors and designers who are up to it," said Brent Gibbs.
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Didn't get a chance to check out William Shakespeare's "First Folio" exhibit at the Arizona State Museum?
You can still celebrate the bard, and the 400-year anniversary of his death, by attending two Shakespeare productions being produced by the UA's Arizona Repertory Theatre through early April.
It is unusual for a theater to produce multiple Shakespeare plays at the same time, using a single cast, but director Brent Gibbs was up for the task.
Gibbs, associate professor and artistic director in the School of Theatre, Film and Television, and certified fight director for the Arizona Repertory Theatre, is directing both "The Comedy of Errors," which runs through April 2, and "The Tempest," which runs through April 3.
Tickets are available online at theatre.arizona.edu, or by calling the Fine Arts Box Office, 520-621-1162.
On March 30, UA employees are students encouraged to wear UA apparel to "The Tempest" to show their Wildcat spirit. That night, those who purchase and wear the black-and-white 2015-2016 Arizona Repertory Theatre season T-shirt will receive a coupon for a free concession. T-shirts are $12 at the Fine Arts Box Office, and sales benefit the UA theater program.
In addition, a free showing of "The Tempest" will take place on March 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Geronimo Plaza, located in Main Gate Square.
Kevin Black, an associate professor of practice in the School of Theatre, Film and Television, acts in the plays, playing Prospero in "The Tempest," and the Duke in "The Comedy of Errors."
Black, who has been a professor for the last 10 years, said it is fairly unusual but every few seasons or so, he finds himself acting along with his students.
This harkens to a "great tradition of mentoring," so newer members of a company get an opportunity to work closely with more experienced members of the company, he said. "We’re all in the trenches together."
Photography by John de Dios/UANews