This review was originally published in the Long Beach Post, a nonprofit news organization, on Feb. 21, 2025.
California Repertory’s “Frantic/Tempest” is a world premiere collaboration between Cal State Long Beach’s (CSULB) Theatre Arts Department and British theater troupe Frantic Assembly, which develops theatrical productions emphasizing physical movement.
Members of Frantic Assembly spent a week with CSULB drama students in January to train the cast in its “building blocks method” of movement as applied to William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” according to Ezra LeBank, director of this show and chair of the Theatre Arts Department.
The cast and crew of “Frantic/Assembly” then collectively developed a staging of the play over four weeks that incorporated movement into the story, which focuses on Italian magician Prospero (Christina Du Chene) raising his daughter Miranda (Tavia Williams) on a remote island using the enslaved labor of native Caliban (Esmeralda Ruiz) and magical sprite Ariel (Natalie Quinn).
The result is “The Tempest” with dynamic choreography woven into each scene — sometimes with props like ladders and boxes, as well as strobe lighting — with movements ranging from dance to slapstick to freezing in motion.
Caliban, for instance, is introduced amidst a whirl of bodies convoluting together in a type of modern dance to ultimately reveal the character dressed in a fur-lined collar as if to emphasize her animalistic nature (seemingly a directorial choice based on Shakespeare’s text, as was changing Caliban’s gender).
And when young Miranda falls for Ferdinand (Chloe Strolia) — one of a group of Italian nobility washed ashore in a tempest created by Prospero — the lovers move in and around a ladder (representing logs that Ferdinand is moving in manly way) in a type of modern dance, getting to know each other in a meet-cute kind of way.
Modern music (coordinated by Jessica Rivera) aids in this scene as it does in others, complementing the energy of the actors. The cast sometimes uses hand-held lighting devices to add another dimension of movement and mood, which usually works, though an extended strobe-lit sequence highlighting Ariel goes on a minute too long for comfort.
The set itself (coordinated by Saul Diaz) is minimal, featuring a cloth backdrop onto which etchings of palm trees and window frames are sometimes projected, designed to evoke the re-setting of the play to a Los Angeles warehouse during extreme climate change. However, besides those images and one scene featuring the sound of street traffic, the play still seems to be set on an island, which may be a missed opportunity given the recent Los Angeles fires and subsequent mudslides from rain.
Banks said the production will go on to perform in New York in April at The Tank, a nonprofit theater that features young performers. By then, hopefully, the cast will have time to develop their movement techniques more fluidly and allow some of the actors to project their voices more audibly and clearly.
As it is, the highlights of the show are the comedic scenes with a drunken Stephano (Enzo De Cunto) and Trinculo (Aryan Chhabra), along with Caliban, who pledges her service to them if they free her from Prospero. The slapstick physical movement and stronger deliveries (especially Chhabra, a computer science major by day) come together in these scenes, culminating in a hysterical fashion-show catwalk.
Otherwise, Du Chene anchors the production with her authoritative delivery as Prospero, often gazing into the distance as her character orchestrates his daughter’s wedding and orders Ariel to put characters to sleep or otherwise affect their behavior to his ends.
And Ruiz is completely immersed as Caliban, who is the rightful inheritor of the island yet portrayed as crouching or walking on all fours and speaking in a harshly rasping voice, her language broken, in perhaps the most physically demanding role.
While Quinn as Ariel also physically embodies her airy character flitting about the stage, her ethereal singing voice was notably stronger than her speaking voice on opening night, though hopefully that will balance out over time. But shoutout to Bobby Brannon for quirky stage presence as King Alonso.
Continuing for one more night at CSULB, the production is enjoyable for its cast and crew’s creative collaboration in staging Shakespeare in this novel way. With time, perhaps it can be tweaked to become more grounded in its purported L.A. setting while bringing the fluidity of the Stefano, Trinculo and Caliban scenes to the rest of the play as well.
“Frantic/Tempest” will perform at CSULB’s University Theater, 1250 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and information, visit csulb.edu/theatre-arts/frantictempest. Run time is 70 minutes with no intermission.
Comments