Playhouse stirring up a ‘Tempest’ outdoors

Tom Titus

For the first 13 years of the Huntington Beach Playhouse’s annual

Shakespeare in the Park program, it was a family affair. Each show

went on with a De Barros receiving director’s credit -- either

longtime playhouse participant Phil or his daughter, Wendi.

This time around, however, both De Barroses are absent from the

creative contingent, but the show will go on with guest director Mark

A. Sacks calling the shots on “The Tempest.”

Sacks, an Orange County deputy district attorney by day, is no

stranger to Shakespeare. He has staged full-length productions of “A

Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” as well as

scenes from “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Richard III,” “Love’s

Labors Lost,” “Measure for Measure,” “The Taming of the Shrew” and,

yes, “The Tempest.”

Directing a play in an al fresco setting, however, poses problems

not encountered on traditional stages.

“Performing outdoors poses several challenges,” Sacks said.

“Planes and helicopters frequently fly overhead and, depending on the

intensity of the noise, the actors need to speak over the sound or

simply stop performing until it goes away.

“Also, since the stage is in a park, people are jogging, kids are

riding their bikes -- sometimes directly onto the stage during

performances -- dogs are barking, etc. Finally, hiding set pieces is

problematic. One cannot use lighting effects, and sound effects are a

real challenge.”

But far from being discouraged, Sacks appears to be invigorated.

“Putting on a Shakespeare performance outdoors has a magical

component that cannot be duplicated inside a theater,” he said.

Sacks has been helping the Orange County judicial system put the

bad guys away since 1997, but before setting out on a legal career he

studied with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and

Stratford-on-Avon, the Bard’s birthplace, in England. This was

shortly after his graduation as valedictorian of his high school

class in Los Altos in 1982.

He completed 25 credits, or seven courses, devoted exclusively to

the analysis and production of Shakespeare’s plays at UC Santa

Barbara and Harvard University, where he obtained his law degree

about the time Huntington Beach’s Shakespeare in the Park was getting

off the ground.

When his production of “The Tempest” takes the stage of Huntington

Beach’s Central Park adjacent to the playhouse’s Library Theater on

July 10, the cast will feature Darren Nash as Prospero, Nakisa

Aschtani as his daughter Miranda, Darren Held as the wicked Caliban

and Linzee Hamilton as the sprite Ariel.

Others in the cast include Jason Cruz, Paul O’Sullivan, Jon

Apostol, Richard Kennemur, Joshua Collins, Paul Venderley, Georgia

Kent, Jenny Lee, Yael Horowitz, James Reagan, Nathan Singh and David

Rusiecki. Harold Gooder is producing, with Bettie Muellengberg

coordinating the costumes.

Performances will be given Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. under

the open sky through Aug. 1. Call (714) 375-0696 for ticket

information.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.