Published in The Post-Star (D1)
7/23/06
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Aqua Net hair spray isn't exactly Elizabethan, but it's playing an important role in the Saratoga Shakespeare Company's latest production, "The Tempest."
The play is set on a magical Mediterranean island, where an Italian royal entourage ends up shipwrecked after an unnatural storm. With a large cast of characters that includes sprites, goddesses, and other strange creatures, bringing the play from text to life presents some unique challenges.
"My character, Caliban, is half-man, half-monster or beast," actor Tim Dugan explained as two teenage girls painted strange, dark geometric designs on his face and legs before Wednesday night's show. His costume includes a fishing net, flesh-colored underwear, and long, dark dreadlocks.
Other actors bustled around the basement of the Saratoga Arts Council building, getting ready for the 6 p.m. curtain call. They would have to imagine the curtain -- the play is performed on an outdoor stage in Congress Park, before an audience that includes picnickers, ducks and squirrels.
Near the door to the park, actor Dorian Makhlogi paced and recited lines into the wireless microphone attached to his ear. But his words didn't match the script for his character, the prince Sebastian.
"One hen. One hen, two ducks. One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese," he said, speaking quickly but clearly as he added "four limerick oysters" and "five corpulent porpoises" to the bizarre litany.
He explained this was a trick he learned as a theater student at Skidmore College. It helps him practice proper articulation and volume -- factors that are especially important in an outdoor performance.
A few doors down, the girls worked on their hair and makeup before climbing into costumes.
"Do you need some Aqua Net?" Johanna Fey Parker asked her fellow actresses Anna Hendrick
and Carly Hirschberg, interrupting their discussion of the downfalls of cheap eyeliner.
Her own red hair was already teased into a wild, windswept crown above her long, narrow face, creating a look to suit her character, the sprite Ariel. She looked at herself in the mirror and laughed.
"It doesn't even feel like hair anymore. I feel like I could be in a Gwen Stefani video!" Parker said.
Hendrick laughed, then frowned at her reflection in a small mirror propped against a chair. She frizzed her fine, blonde hair with a crimping iron.
"I want it to be more...aaah!" she exclaimed, pulling at the air around her head to demonstrate.
Hirschberg glanced at her sideways in the mirror as she tugged at her own brown hair with a curling iron, working on a more natural hairstyle for her character, the female lead Miranda.
"They have that blue Elmer's glue," she suggested. "It's washable."
Hendrick reached for the Aqua Net.
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IF YOU GO: "The Tempest" will be performed by Saratoga Shakespeare Company at 2 p.m. today and July 30 and at 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, weather permitting. All performances are free and open to the public, with donations appreciated. No seating or shelter is provided. Dogs and picnickers are welcome. For information, go to www.saratogashakespeare.com or call 581-1853.
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