Five actors from the London stage graced UT San Antonio’s Main Campus Recital Hall on Oct. 1 and its Buena Vista center on Oct. 3-4. The performances of “The Tempest” came after months of rehearsals and planning by the five actors involved. The program, founded in 1975 by Professor Homer “Murph” Swander and Sir Patrick Stewart at the University of California, Santa Barbara, brings the actors together with no direction or management and minimal prompts, which culminates in a production wherein each of the five actors plays multiple characters.
The actors’ involvement in the program does not end there. Once the show is finalized, the ensemble goes on a tour across the U.S., stopping at various campuses and infiltrating classrooms to get involved and spread Shakespearean knowledge with the student body before performing for them.
The five artists took the time this past week to visit classes of differing focuses at UT San Antonio – making connections to theatre in unexpected academic topics. Prospero and Antonio double-actor Michael Wagg spent time with Professor Kirsten Gardner’s “History of Medicine” class, connecting health and wellness to the four humors, the guiding principles of Shakespeare’s characters.
Actors from the London Stage have visited UT San Antonio every year since 1988, with 2020 as the exception. The experience proved educational for students and the actors.
“We’ve loved our time at UTSA, both on campus and around town,” Wagg commented. “It’s a wonderful place. We feel very fortunate not only to share our show but to be a part of campus life for the week, and working directly with students and faculty is absolutely central to what we do. We believe that the spirit of the rehearsal room and theatre making can intersect with any subject, and have really felt that here.
“By going into classrooms — and we’ve been into around 20 classes this week — we’re able to help students experience the story from the inside and to be an active part of the exploration of it. It’s a two-way process, I think. We’re able to take aspects of our production into the classroom and what we explore there can feed back into our work on stage. It’s a lively, lovely thing.”
The performance itself is stunning; the actors filled the stage despite their lack of numbers. The 14-character show is charming, with great moments of laughter throughout. When the production becomes clustered with outfit changes and double-booked actors, the crowd finds humor and joy.
UT San Antonio has hosted the program for many years and many years to come, with the support of the UT San Antonio Friends of Shakespeare, so keep an eye out for next year’s residency.
