SIDE A:

1. You have to show or create a shipwreck on stage. How might you do that?

• I would put a screen at the back of the stage and project a picture of a shipwreck. I would add sand and broken pieces of wood as the set and add some sounds of waves crashing.

2. One character in your play is a spirit. How might you have a character as a spirit onstage?

• I would use harnesses and attach them to an actor so they can “fly” onstage.

3. Another character is imprisoned in a rock. How would you show a character imprisoned in a rock?

• I would make a set piece that looks like a big rock from all points of view but make the front of it look like a jail cell (with the bars). This way, the audience knows it’s a rock but also a jail that the character is imprisoned in.

4. You have to portray ‘magic demon dogs’ that are unleashed onstage. How might you portray magic demon dogs (without using real dogs)?

• I would make the characters dress up in demon dog costumes and play sounds of dogs howling and barking (so the characters on stage don’t have to actually bark).

5. What elements would you bring in to create a deserted island? What would you create? Describe how the audience would know that it is a deserted island.

• I would have a screen at the back of the stage a project an ocean on it. On stage, I would have a lot of sand on the floor, a few palm trees, dried up sticks and leaves on the floor, and tumbleweeds tumbling around.

6. What challenges would you face when trying to create all of these elements in person, on stage, live, in front of an audience.

• making them look realistic and making sure that they don’t harm any of the actors while they are onstage

SIDE B:

A. “Inspiration” comes from many sources. Describe one source of inspiration for Julie Taymor when she was setting the scene for the play.

• For the character Caliban, she got inspiration from the Mudmen of New Guinea.

B. Describe one moment where you went “a-ha!” or “that is brilliant!” or “I never would have thought of that!” and describe how or why that moment stood out to you.

• The way she thought of an actor being a spirit. I never would have thought of making the actor “invisible” and just using one of her hands to act out the emotion.

C. ‘Symbolism’ plays an important part in most theatre. This is different than ‘Literal’. Pick one moment or element that was represented “symbolically” as opposed to literally and describe it.

• In the book, Shakespeare wrote, “the bigger light”. Julie Taymor interpreted it as the Sun. To show the audience that Caliban is talking about the Sun when he says “the bigger light” she asks the actor to point up to the sun.

D. What would you change about the production (from what you saw) if you were filming it for movies or television?

• I would edit the spirit instead of using a real actor to act it out so it looks less awkward in films.

E. What stuck with you from watching this? What moment, element,

• I liked the small opening from the sand for Caliban to enter the stage. It was a really creative way to introduce a new character to the audience.