OHIO artists return to their roots for Tantrum Theater鈥檚 production of 鈥淭welfth Night鈥�

Tantrum Theater, OHIO鈥檚 in-house professional theater company, often brings in professionals in the industry to work collaboratively with students both on stage and on the creative side. Recently, Tantrum Theater opened Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淭welfth Night,鈥� also known as 鈥淲hat You Will,鈥� bringing in several professionals to mentor and work alongside School of Theater students, including two guest artists whose ties to OHIO remain deep.

Shelley Delaney, a retired professor from OHIO鈥檚 School of Theater, is the show鈥檚 guest director, with OHIO alum, Megan Culley, acting as the production鈥檚 guest sound designer and composer. Both guest artists have a long history of working on OHIO鈥檚 stage.

鈥淚鈥檓 really happy to be back鈥n a teaching environment, but also as a guest, so it鈥檚 kind of the best of both worlds,鈥� Delaney said.

Delaney came to OHIO with a full professional acting career behind her and did a deeper dive into directing upon her arrival. She still has a New York agent and pursues acting but feels too at home in Athens to leave just yet. This production of 鈥淭welfth Night鈥� will be her fourth Shakespeare show as a director, and she is ecstatic to be participating in this particular play.

鈥淚t is a funny play, it is an accessible play鈥t鈥檚 (part of) a conversation we鈥檙e in everyday about gender, and Shakespeare was writing it 400 years ago,鈥� Delaney said. 鈥淭he dialogue about who you love, and what that is supposed to look like by what is prescribed by a given society鈥s torn so wide open in this play, it鈥檚 shocking to think of it as 400 years old.鈥�

Delaney described the environment of the show as more elemental than architectural and the contemporary and organic setting is contributed to by Culley鈥檚 expertise and artistry.

Originally, Culley, a 2016 graduate of the MFA in Production Design and Technology program, came to OHIO as a speech pathology major, and then switched disciplines in grad school after discovering a passion for sound design and the theater. Culley moved to New York after graduating and has worked on regional and Broadway productions ever since.

鈥淎thens is really special to me, I lived here for seven years. Most of my formative memories happened here, and I just really loved the theater department and the professors, and I lept at the chance to work with all of them again,鈥� said Culley on her decision to return for this project.

The open-ended setting of Tantrum鈥檚 Shakespeare rendition allowed Culley to combine her skills and experience in a new way, fusing Portuguese, Italian, Greek and African influences into both the music and sound design.

鈥淚鈥檝e never done a show that combines all those things,鈥� Culley said. 鈥淓very single show is different. Every single Shakespeare is different. It all depends on where the team wants to go.鈥�

With this show specifically, the design team, headed by Delaney, put an emphasis on the language that Shakespeare is so renowned for.

鈥�(For) so many people, most of their entertainment comes through their television. There is great acting and writing on television, but it鈥檚 the rarer television show that is language driven, and I love language. I love that there are words that are so delicious to say, we鈥檝e been laughing for weeks about 鈥榗onsanguineous鈥�,鈥� said Delaney. 鈥淏esides that, the job then becomes (to)...make that clear enough so it doesn鈥檛 feel like we鈥檙e speaking a foreign language, and it鈥檚 really important that鈥ou don鈥檛 bring the language down to being casual, that you rise to the language.鈥�

There are many things an audience member can gain from seeing a Shakespeare play, especially one as chaotic and timeless as 鈥淭welfth Night.鈥�

 鈥淲hat I hope (the audience) gains is another viewpoint into a Shakespeare (play) that they鈥檙e hopefully familiar with,鈥� Culley added. 鈥淗opefully they see some of the darkness in it, see some of the comedy in a different way and come away with a new lens for a story that is familiar.鈥� 

The creative team also hopes that the actors, which is mainly compromised of acting students from OHIO, as well as professional guests, find some new lessons in their work on the production.

鈥淚 believe in the teaching of acting, and theater as an environment that creates better citizens of the world,鈥� said Delaney. She believes that learning how to perform Shakespeare will also guide them in future theatrical endeavors.

鈥淪hakespeare is glorious to play. It鈥檚 really hard work to do, but then the playing of it is as easy as you can possibly get. I want (the students) to do all the work so that they cannot think about it at all when they鈥檙e doing it and just take the ride,鈥� Delaney added.

Tantrum Theater鈥檚 鈥淭welfth Night鈥� will conclude on Nov. 18 and included shows with talkbacks and ASL interpretation.

The core message that Delaney channeled into the production, one that is sure to inspire and resonate with any potential audience member, is that she 鈥渨ants everyone to love theater.鈥�