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As the performance drew closer, Liz O'Brien '00, production stage manager, boatswain and goddess, improvised with lists, Velcro and a whole lot of hot glue. O'Brien tacked every stitch in Caliban's 6-foot tail—made from a leaf-printed comforter—that Tucker Cummings '07, hunkering in a green unitard draped in fishnet, dragged around Appledore's rugged terrain to turn herself into a "savage and deformed slave."

The students designed their own dramatic masks and dog-heads, embellished with gull feathers and sticks from the island. C.J. Lewis '07 as Stephano, the drunken butler, swigged from a bottle made of tree bark; he and his companion Trinculo (Liam Billingham '05) draped themselves with fresh kelp. They spent hours scaling the rocky route from the beach so they wouldn't be out of breath when they bellowed their lines over the waves and gulls. For her role as "dainty spirit" Ariel, Harmony Stempel '06 taught herself to dance.

Hayley Bagwell '06 worked with Richman on the background for Antonio, Prospero's ruthless brother, trusting Kaye's vision in casting her for the part. "He told us it was time to push the envelope," she said.

For Samantha Cistulli '07, playing Miranda meant getting bitten by ants while lolling in Ferdinand's (Dan Beaulieu '06) arms. Jennifer Charles '06 ended up creating a new head for her 12-foot harpy puppet after version No. 4 didn't make it to the island. "This," Charles declared, "is a very organic production."

When the day in late August arrived, however, somehow miraculously everything, including the weather, was perfect. A small crowd of 100—tickets had been sold out since mid-summer—arrived on time via three laboratory research vessels. Audience members wound their way to a tent set on a bluff framed by sumac and chokecherry, picking up "silent" bag lunches on the way (think tuna, hummus, soft cookies) packed so as not to distract from the natural acoustics and the sound effects provided by Kaye.

And then they watched this play described by its director as "a chain of grace unfolding" under a flawless blue sky.

Bring on the brave new world. ~

Candice Stover is a freelance writer who lives on Mount Desert Island, Maine.

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