Shakespeare’s Cross-Dressers, Drunks, and Fools

By Anna Mayes
Elm Staff Writer
On the weekend of Oct. 8, Washington College was taken over by cross-dressers, drunks, and fools. Co-directed by Professor Dale Daigle and senior Maggie Campbell, theatre major, “Cross-Dressers, Drunks, and Fools” was full of laughs with some of Shakespeare’s greatest clowns. “This show is a combination of nonsense and silliness,” said Campbell. Even for those that are not necessarily fans of Shakespeare, this show was fun for all.
Campbell said that working with Daigle was nothing short of amazing. She previously acted with Daigle, but said directing with him was different because he valued her opinion as much as his own, and really helped her grow as an artist.
Last semester, Daigle agreed to let Campbell be his assistant director, and they began casting and set designing. On the first day of rehearsal, he announced that Campbell would be his co-director.
While putting together the show, Campbell said, “Working with such talented artists has been a dream. Everyone working on this show is so talented and it is hard to keep up.”

On the left, John Leslie emerges as Caliban from “The Tempest.” In the middle, Catalina Righter looks down, as Moonshine, upon Connor Lugo-Harris as Pyrumus, and Lorenz Iversen as The Wall. On the right, Righter played Trinculo from “The Tempest” and Starveling from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
On the left, John Leslie emerges as Caliban from “The Tempest.” In the middle, Catalina Righter looks down, as Moonshine, upon Connor Lugo-Harris as Pyrumus, and Lorenz Iversen as The Wall. On the right, Righter played Trinculo from “The Tempest” and Starveling from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

64640_cross-dressers_drunks_fools_043The scenes in this play came from “The Tempest,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” The play focuses on a 64611_cross-dressers_drunks_fools_064group of actors who are preparing to put on a show for a special person. In preparation for the show, they end up caught in a storm on the Chesapeake Bay and land on Betterton Beach.
Sophomore John Leslie said that this show was great because the actors were allowed to explore and experiment the scenes on their own. “This allowed us to add our own input and creativity into the show,” he said.
The directors helped frame and direct their ideas into what they wanted the final production to be. “There was nothing but optimism and fun between director and actor,” he said.
Leslie played Caliban from “The Tempest,” who is a fish-human savage and servant to Prospero. Juliet was played by senior Emily Stecker and the Nurse was played by senior Erin Coffman. Tess Garraty played Quince, who was the director of the play within a play.
The play was a collection of Shakespeare plays that were picked out by Daigle. Some of the actors played more than one character. This was definitely true for sophomore Colin Higgins. He played Francis Flute and Stephano. Flute is a blue collar worker trying to be an actor by performing the play “Pyrimus and Thisbe.”
“Flute is a little bothered by the fact he has to play a woman, but he gets over it,” said Higgins. Stephano is Flute, but drunk and shipwrecked.
Bottom was played by junior Connor Monroe Lugo-Harris. Senior Catalina Righter also had two roles in the play. She played Trinculo from “The Tempest” and Starveling from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Junior Lorenz Iversen played Snout and a Gravedigger. Junior Mark Christie also played a Gravedigger and Snug.
The cast hoped that the audience would laugh and enjoy the show as much as they did, and there is no doubt that the audience did just that. “This play is to celebrate the fun side of Shakespeare. We all know the tragedies, but there is more to Shakespeare than death,” Campbell said. “He knows how to make a joke, which is what we are trying to illuminate.

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