Open Call: Go 'Beyond Shakespeare' program shines light on our shared humanity

My name is Mariah Ghant, and I’m a member of the Artistic Squad at Delaware Shakespeare.

While it sounds a bit like “The Squad” is a group of very-hip-crime-fighting-artsy-type-folks who are about to drop a sick mixtape any day soon, we are actually a cohort of artists working collectively with the leadership at Del Shakes to develop and guide engaging programming.

Together, we’ve been examining some of our previous work and endeavors and finding ways to adjust our offerings to better serve a broader reach of our community. (Well, maybe it does sound like we do just a lil’ crime fighting.)

I’ve been honored to play a personal role in two of our projects this spring, that have fallen under the umbrella of the new “Beyond Shakespeare” series. At Del Shakes, we love the Bard, but we recognize there are more under-represented, creative voices that also can help us to explore our shared humanity.

Just as Shakespeare provides the framework for discovering connection, we can find even more opportunities by exploring poetry, imaginative theatricality and mythic reach. The “Beyond Shakespeare” series features diverse creative voices in conversation with the stories and themes from the full Shakespeare productions in our 2022 season.

In April, I directed a reading event focused on scenes from Martinican author Aimé Césaire’s play “A Tempest.” Césaire sets the play in the Caribbean, and positions Caliban and Ariel as representing different modes of resistance to a colonial power. While keeping the plot of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” mainly intact, the play gives new vitality to the themes of freedom and liberty.

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During rehearsals, the cast and I thoroughly enjoyed digging into this work and discussing the many themes and ideas Césaire birthed in transforming Shakespeare’s original text. Specifically focusing on race and colonialism, we often found ourselves looking at the importance of Caliban in “A Tempest” and how he differed from that character in the Shakespeare text. Césaire’s Caliban has agency, clarity in his motives, and a determination to find freedom from the tyrannical Prospero, who was depicted as a white colonizer imposing his views and lifestyle onto Caliban’s native island.

The event was held at ArtzScape on Market Street in Wilmington. We read selected scenes and then discussed their impact with the audience.

I was floored by how engaged the audience was and how prepared they were to just dive into these heavy, nuanced topics.

The cast, myself, and our dramaturg had spent several hours over Zoom discussing the intricacies of Césaire’s representations, how they reflected many struggles of Black and brown peoples, and the importance of continuing these conversations in our daily lives. And the audience was so quick to meet us right there!

The conversations were rich and full of back and forth from those of us performing on-stage as well as between different audience members. It was an incredibly unique performance experience that I look forward to finding ways to continue in the future at Del Shakes.

I am currently working with Raheem Curry, Del Shakes’ partnership and engagement associate, and eight local poets to create “The Tempest Poetry Slam.” The event will be held at Christina Cultural Arts Center on Tuesday, June 21 at 6 p.m.

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The poets and spoken word artists are working in a collaborative way to fashion new poems in conversation with Shakespeare’s play. We met to discuss the plots, themes, characters and language from “The Tempest,” and to see what resonated with us as artists today.

Similarly to my experience with leading the conversations for the reading and discussion of “A Tempest,” this group of poets was quick to dive into the themes of Shakespeare’s work. We examined the power dynamics between Prospero and the enslaved Ariel and Caliban. We debated the source of Prospero’s manipulation and if his actions are ever actually redeemable. Finally, we held this story up as a mirror to examine and reflect on our everyday lives.

Following that initial meeting, the eight poets, as well as Raheem and myself, are now working on new pieces rooted in some of the themes from “The Tempest.” We’ll gather again once more to share our poems with each other and provide feedback, and then we will perform them for the public at the Poetry Slam on June 21.

We hope you’ll come out to support the work of these local artists: Kira Akins, Tyrone Harper, Ameerah York James, Andre Jones, Rose C. Porter, Phoenix Rhymes, Todd Townsend, and Christian “Anthem” Wills.

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So far, “Beyond Shakespeare” is working exactly as it we hoped it would. The creative voices featured have offered their own rich and fascinating perspectives, and these stories are already powerful without any connection to Shakespeare. But as we are gearing up for our full production of “The Tempest” this July at Rockwood Park, these offerings serve as a gentle guide towards further understanding and connecting with that upcoming presentation.

If you engaged with Césaire’s “A Tempest,” if you come out to see local poets riffing on “The Tempest,” you will have a different and hopefully more expansive experience with Shakespeare’s play this summer.

“Beyond Shakespeare” aims to expand our sense of shared humanity. We invite you to come along for the journey.

Mariah Ghant is a member of the Artistic Squad at Delaware Shakespeare.

Open Call is a weekly column that offers Delaware's arts and culture organizations an opportunity to share their vision, challenges and upcoming programming with our readers. Groups interested in participating can email Features Editor Tammy Paolino at tpaolino@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Shakespeare's Artistic Squad, summer bill foster connections