Southwestern Adventist University’s Departments of English and Music combined poetry, music, art, and film in its annual Spring play, “Socially Distant Shakespeare: A Night Six Feet Away from the Bard." This presentation told stories of human experience through scenes from various plays, which were accompanied by musical selections.  

The scenes were inspired by Shakespearean classics such as, “As You Like It,” “The Tempest,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Henry V,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Twelfth Night,” and “King Lear.”  

The selected scenes and musical pieces spoke to the experience of pandemic, isolation, and the need for human connection in the time of COVID-19. The play was staged outdoors in order to provide space for as many people as possible to safely enjoy the performance while staying physically distanced.    

This romantic comedy was set in England during the Victorian era and told the story of two men living double lives. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, two London aristocrats, disguised themselves as different people when they traveled between the city and the country. As the story unfolded, audiences were entertained by the play’s witty humor and the satirical jabs it took at Victorian-era ideas of love and marriage. 

In Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors," a family separated by shipwreck many years earlier all find themselves in the town of Ephesus on the same day. Egeon, an old man from Syracuse, is there in search of his son, Antipholus of Syracuse, and his son’s servant, Dromio of Syracuse, who, in turn, are searching for the twin brothers they each lost in that childhood shipwreck: Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus. Shakespeare’s double set of twins leads to a series of hilarious scenes of mistaken identity, and the play ends with a lovely scene of reunion and reconciliation. The setting for the 2019 performance was a 1960s Miami street, complete with art deco buildings and vintage costumes. 

Moliere’s masterwork, "Tartuffe," created a stir when it was first performed in France. It has remained popular, and controversial, ever since. Audiences love the story of a family beset by problems, brought about because the head of the house, Orgon, has fallen under the spell of a charlatan and hypocrite, Tartuffe, who poses as a religious man but shows himself to be greedy and lascivious. With fantastic costumes, a gorgeous set, and wonderful acting, Tartuffe was a huge hit and very well attended. It also made audiences ponder how reason relates to passion and how authoritarianism must be tempered with thoughtfulness. 

Oliver Goldsmith’s classic play, “She Stoops to Conquer,” tells the story of two young men who travel to meet women they may eventually marry. Due to mishaps along the way, the men arrive at the house of Mr. Hardcastle, thinking that it is an inn. One young man, Marlowe, is so shy he cannot even make eye contact with Hardcastle’s daughter, the beautiful Kate. When Kate dresses “down” into a maid’s outfit, however, Marlowe displays quite a different character. This play demonstrates how “elastic” great drama can be, as we set the work in contemporary Texas, with Hardcastle being a “good-ole-boy” Texan who just wants the best for his kin. As always, we saw great acting, terrific costumes, and a well-decorated and elaborate stage. 

The classics never go out of style, as Jane Austen’s "Emma" made apparent on the stage of Wharton Auditorium. In this production, the large cast brought to life the troubles that occur when Emma thinks she is a great matchmaker and starts to order people’s lives for them, with disastrous results. Eventually, she learns from her mistakes and even has a chance at love herself. Not only was the acting first-rate, but also some of the actors got a chance to showcase other talents, as one actor created paintings for the stage—note the fireplace and mantle in the picture.