The Nexus

Bill Wuehrmann (11) tried to sit patiently through director Doug Smith’s short speech.

But he couldn’t.

He tried to determine why the entire cast and crew of the fall play The Tempest had been called to this meeting, but Smith refused to reveal any crucial information until the end.

Then, with one sentence, Smith broke the silence within his audience.

“You are taking your entire production to the CETA festival,” he said.

The entire theater trembled, as the students erupted into cheers and tears at the overwhelming news.

Westview Theatre Co.’s fall play, The Tempest, was chosen to showcase its performance at the High School Theatre Festival at Fontana High School near Riverside. The festival will be hosted by the California Educational Theatre Association (CETA), Jan. 16-18.

Along with The Tempest, three other full productions were selected from the Southern California Region.

Westview Theatre has attended the festival every year since Westview has opened, and was invited to perform a 10-minute-scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream four years ago. However, this is the first year in which they were asked to perform their entire productions.

“We have a lot of work to do to get [the play] ready to go back, but it’s more of an accomplishment than a burden,” student director Madeline Des Jardins (12) said. “It’s so incredible that Westview has done this, and I am so proud of the production and everyone involved. I’m not nervous, just because I have so much confidence in this theatre company. But I know that it’s going to be the best that Westview has to offer, and I’m just so excited to see it happen.”

Although The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s less publicized works, Des Jardins said she believes the unique technical and acting aspects of the production strongly influenced the judges’ decisions for The Tempest. In selecting schools, CETA critics attended a random showing of the performance without notifying the cast of their presence.

“We did a lot of things that usually aren’t seen in a typical play with the musical, the dancing and the theatre,” Des Jardins said. “I think it’s just a really theatrical performance in between the score that was completely composed by a student, the choreography and such a large cast.”

During the three-day festival, the cast and crew participate in various activities ranging from workshops to auditions for schools, as well as the showcasing of the four main productions.

To prepare for the event, the cast and crew have come together to improve in minor areas, such as positioning or re-memorizing lines, with the extra time that remains until they perform again.

“There’s not that much to fix because it’s one of those, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,’ kind of things, where we’re just trying to keep it the amazing production that the judges liked,” Des Jardins said. “I don’t really want to change it too much. The big thing is just getting everything back together and getting the spirit back together because we had just a powerful presence with our show.”

In addition to rehearsing for the festival, the cast and crew are also practicing for their encore performance which will take place at Westview on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets will be sold for $10.

Despite the unforgettable memories gathered from working with the cast and crew, Wuehrmann, who played the part of Stephano, is prepared for the fact that a big part of those involved in The Tempest won’t be returning next year as they graduate from high school.

“Every year, you get this feeling of ‘What are we going to do now that all [the seniors] are graduating?’” he said. “But there are a lot of underclassmen who look really promising, and I’m really looking forward to working with them. I think we have a definite chance of upholding the enormous standards that Westview Theatre has set this year.”