Untitled Tempest Project

While Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" could be argued to be a celebration of the magic inherent in live theatre, it is also a deeply problematic text that celebrates colonialism and racial inequity, framing its single Black character as a violent, ignorant slave.

During the first theatrical season following the COVID-19 lock downs—there were 37 productions of "The Tempest": an almost 300% increase from productions in the 2019 season.

Amidst the fluorescence of the Black Lives Matter movement and national calls for racial equity and reform amplified by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020, the proliferation of Tempest stagings "seemed shockingly out of place" to WWU Theatre's Christina Gutierrez-Dennehy.

"Untitled Tempest" is a devised production inspired by and responding to Shakespeare’s "The Tempest." "Untitled Tempest" will be created by Christina Gutierrez-Dennehy alongside members of the production team and 8-10 actors.

We're privileged to work on the project with guest artists Keith Hamilton Cobb (actor and playwright of American Moor) and Jessica Burr (founding artistic director of NYC's Blessed Unrest Theatre).

Together, Keith and Jessica founded the Untitled Othello Project. Untitled Othello is a company dedicated to an anti-racist "exercise in creative justice, employing ensemble-based creative practices engaged in deep and sustained exploration of Shakespeare’s text."

Working with Keith and Jessica, we dissect "The Tempest," analyzing each word, phrase, and line for both its historical meaning and its contemporary resonances.

Artwork by Brian Mann. 

If you have any further questions regarding this performance, you can reach out to Kevin.Harris@wwu.

Image description: Painting of a tree. Red on the right side of it and blue on the left, green curvy lines indicated branches.