Director’s Note
Welcome to the Point Montara Hostel.
One of my homes away from home, I first discovered this place as an employee of Hostelling International, the parent organization for whom I worked for 7 years. During that time I directed three plays in nearby Woodside, and once per production I would come here with my cast to spend the night, carouse on the beach, and make breakfast together. These are some of the happiest memories of my life, from an era that now seems both magical and remote, and I’ve been a regular guest ever since, frequently coming with my former partner when we needed to get away for a weekend, and then on my own after we split up. If a place feels just as romantic alone as it does when you’re in love, then you know it’s a good haunt.
I got to know Christopher Bauman and Janice Pratt through our mutual employer but also my many stays and the times I’d volunteer for the annual Halloween festival. We began to kick around the idea of doing a show in and around the fog signal building probably as early as 2008, and that show was always The Tempest. It just made sense in this environment the way that doing a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the woods or Henry IV in a bar made sense (and I’ve done both). What made it take so long to happen was the timing never seeming to be right, the reasons to do The Tempest never seeming to make sense, perfect location or otherwise. I’m still not sure we picked the right season, or scheduled enough rehearsals, but if you’re reading this then here we are, and if the production is a little rough, well so was the world from which The Tempest sprung over 400 years ago, and so is the one in which it currently seems to be experiencing a bit of a zeitgeist.
Why we perform old plays that contain content that may not have aged well, expressed in poetry we may not always understand, and require a suspension of disbelief we may not be able to sustain, is a separate question from why we perform The Tempest specifically. As a regular director of “the classics” I frequently point to the “universal” themes often found in such works, or how nothing about humans ever truly becomes “irrelevant” just more or less obvious depending on what’s going on in the world, but I think it also has to do with how we tap into a legacy and a lineage, something bigger than us, and how that conveys a kind of immortality by blurring the boundaries between the past and the present, what we lost and what we might yet still discover.
That The Tempest in particular, with its central themes of forgiveness, acceptance, and mortality, might make it the classic du jour while so many of us navigate the current storms raging all around us, is something I think would tickle its creator. Written towards the end of Shakespeare’s career and life, it is a fairy tale wrapped in a sea chanty whose autumnal after taste lingers like smoke on the clothes you wore to a bonfire, triggering delight and nostalgia in equal parts.
Rather like Point Montara itself, which in the current climate feels like a haven and a hold-out, some place you can escape for a bit, so long as it continues to escape the ravages of a vast and dangerous world that resembles the Milan our play’s heroes have left, more than the magical and remote island on which they, and you, temporarily find themselves.
Welcome to this magical and remote corner of a vast and dangerous world.
Stuart Bousel
Music Director’s Note
Dear Tempest Audience,
I grew up singing with my family, a cappella, with lots of laughing until we cried. We sang around the dinner table, we sang into the wind, into the ocean, to each other, and on mountaintops. We lost ourselves in the music. I learned that music is nurishment. Music is medicine. Music is as natural as laughing, and crying. In this fashion, I invite you to consider the idea that music is for everyone, and join us in our music making, please feel free to sing and tap and stomp and shout with us!
For this score, I drew inspiration from the music of Sardinia, Italy, Korea, Ireland, the UK. You will hear the farmer’s drum of Jindo called the Jul Buk, the seashell trumpet, the reed flutes called Launeddas, the Triangle, the Piano, the handheld drum called the Sogo Buk, clusters of goat shepherd’s bells called Sa Carriga, the Celtic Harp, calf-worn Morris Bells, as well as additional instruments supplied by our wonderful cast, and a capella singing.
Shakespeare endured a time of extremely heavy censorship in the performing arts, outright bans on certain religious content, even playing Irish harp was banned as a hangable offence, in Elizabethan times. Through times of colonization and heavy religious persecution, particularly of Catholics, I cannot help but wonder at the possible hidden meanings within the text and characters, the possibilities of more religious tolerance at the turn of the century, in what is now the UK, and also I cannot help but wonder what great works we would now have if Shakespeare had lived in a time and place where he were free to write, openly, and express himself without fear, however he pleased… a pleasure I enjoy, that I do not take for granted.
Sincerely,
Katherine Park
Cast
Carl Lucania (Prospero) is happy to be working with Berkeley Shakes again after appearing in last year’s Cymbeline. Shakespeare in unusual locales is sort of his thing having performed The Bard in a bar (with SF Theater pub) and in a forest (with Atmos’s Theater in the Woods). He’s had the good fortune to appear on several bay area stages over the last 20 years, studied acting at SF State, and fronted several bands you’ve never heard of.
Elly Grace Hudson (Miranda) is an actor based in San Francisco. Her role as Miranda marks her return to the stage after three years, and she is grateful and overjoyed to be back. She also acts in commercials and films. Elly earnestly believes in the power of performance and its ability to form temporary cohorts among creators and audiences alike, creating a sense of play and community that we need now more than ever.
Elly earned a political science degree from UC Berkeley that she now uses as a policy analyst for the SFMTA, where she’s found a deep care for public transportation. In her spare time, you’ll find her reading novels and plays, writing poetry and commentary, learning Spanish, and camping and hiking. She is always looking to try new things; right now she’s in a gymnastics class! Who knows what’s next — pottery? Horseback riding? Banjo? Only sweet time will tell!
Katherine Park (Ariel 1, Music Director, Composer) grew up in the suburbs of Boston eating baek kimchi and drinking hot chocolate for breakfast. Music has been her ticket to see the country and the world, performing in venues from the basement at CBGBs, to Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, to live on KALX, to Hotel Utah to Montara Light House.
She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The Hartt School, and performs solo and with alternative rock bands, her EP ‘Sonatina Dream’ appears on music streaming platforms. Her past theatre credits include Broken Blossoms at Chinese Historical Society of America Museum’s, Coney Island Christmas at Theatre in the Heights, I Love You You’re Perfect, Now Change at Bindlestiff Studios, and The Coronation and Crowning of Eleanore of Aquitaine and Anarchy Quartet at Exit Theatre. She appears in the films Sorry We’re Dead by Alex Zajicek and One Long Day by Gairo Cuevas, available on streaming platforms.
She is currently in production for the film The Rolling Sea directed by Frazer Bradshaw and produced by Eric Blyler. She works across mediums in music, radio, film, theatre, television and photography and when she’s not performing she loves to take ballet class, pass on the flame of music through teaching and coaching, participate in activism for human rights and the arts, and spend time with her love, photographer Douglas Despres. The roles of Iris/Ariel 1 are her first Shakespeare collaboration. She hopes you will feel free to sing and clap along to our performance tonight!
Elana Swartz (Ariel 2) (she/her) is from Virginia and based in SF, holds a BA in Theater from James Madison University. Favorite local credits: Cymbeline (Imogen), King Lear (Cordelia/Fool) with Berkeley Shakespeare Company, Romeo and Juliet (Juliet) with Theatre Lunatico, and Constellations (Marianne) with The Pear Theatre. Visit elanaswartz.com for details.
Alejandra Wahl (Ariel 3, Producer) is an actor, singer, director, and producer living in the East Bay. She is a proud producing member of Berkeley Shakespeare Company, serving on the board and in the company. Seen on various Bay Area stages, previous roles include The Queen in Cymbeline (BSC); Maria in Yerma (Shotgun Players); Cat in References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot and Edward/Victoria in Cloud 9 (Custom Made).
“As a theater maker and educator, I believe art thrives at the intersection of activism and inspiration. My hope is that you walk out of this space with a renewed sense of hope in the power of communities to bind together, uplift each other, inspire each other, and care for each other.” Alejandra dedicates this performance to the memory of her father, Timothy.
Michele Rabkin (Alonso), MFA, is a Berkeley-born/Oakland-based writer, performer, and recovering administrator who is thrilled to be returning to the stage, and to Shakespeare, after an absence of mumble-mumble years. She is grateful to Stuart Bousel and the Berkeley Shakespeare Company for the opportunity to be part of this production and its wonderful cast, and to her husband Michael and daughter Nora for their love and support.
Valerie Façhman (Caliban) is grateful to be part of this beautiful production, with the best scenery ever! They were Belarius in BSC’s Cymbeline, toured as Mercutio & Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet (SF Shakes), alternated Gertrude and Ophelia in Hamlet on tour, played Titania in Midsummer, the title role in King Lear, and a lot of non-Shakespearean roles. They enjoy playing gods & monsters, and creating characters in new plays, such as Dorothea Lange in Last West (up next).
All love to Scott and Ella, my wonderful tiny family.
Chris Fallows (Stephano) has been acting and directing for over 30 years. Acting credits include Spamalot (King Arthur) and Guys and Dolls (Nathan Detroit), and directing credits include The Grapes of Wrath, Macbeth About Nothing, Big Fish, and Titus Andronicus. Chris is excited for his first production with the Berkeley Shakespeare Company and grateful to be part of this unique production. Life is good.
Abigail Wissink (Trinculo) is an actor, educator, and musician. They work as an Environmental Science Educator for NatureBridge and a Teaching Artist for Marin Shakespeare Company. Recent roles include Orlando in As You Like It and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You can see them next in Hello Girls with Ross Valley Players in February.
They are so happy to spend time with this merry band at the lighthouse!
Tavis Kammet (Antonio) has been acting around the Bay Area for over twenty years. Recently he portrayed the Guts in Strange Organs, multiple wacky characters with Killing My Lobster and Lord Capulet in an original interpretation of Noises Off. Tavis studied theater in the UK where he performed with Theater du Complicte and Punch Drunk Theater. Tavis teaches theater to high school students at Hayward High School where he recently took an original production of Cinderella to the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
Will Cagle (Ferdinand) is a writer, editor, and educator currently based in San Francisco. He teaches English and History with 6th-12th graders at Headlands Preparatory School in Sausalito, and serves as Managing Editor of Speculative Fiction for the magazine Variant Literature. His own writing centers issues of disability and the climate crisis.
This is his first production with Berkeley Shakespeare Company, and his first time back to the stage after a long hiatus (his last production was Romeo & Juliet with the King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe at Columbia University in 2019) so huge thanks to Stuart and the rest of the cast and crew for the warm welcome back to Shakespeare and performance!
Production Team
Stuart Bousel (Director) is returning to Berkeley Shakes for the second time, having previously directed Cymbeline in 2024, and to the Point Montara Youth Hostel for the thousandth time, having been a frequent guest since 2007 and their human resources generalist from 2007 to 2014. In addtion to directing, Bousel is a playwright (his play Everybody Here Says Hello! won Oustanding World Premiere Theatre Bay Area in 2014) and his next project is adapting Satyricon for Eagle Players in 2026 in San Francisco, where he makes his home, works for the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, SF Ballet and SF Opera, as well as occasionally hosting at Feinstein’s at the Nikko.
A frequent contributor to the Petaluma Argus Courier, you can find out more about his work at www.stuartbousel.com.
Phillip Leyva (Producer) co-founded Berkeley Shakespeare Company in 2021 with his fearless comrades Emily, Jen, and the brilliant cast of Macbeth. He is an actor and educator originally from the San Joaquin Valley who is returning to the stage in January 2026 as Gomez in The Addams Family at Tri Valley Theatre Company. Recent theatre credits include Franz in The Sound of Music (Berkeley Playhouse), Wadsworth in Clue (Onstage Repertory Theatre), Sir Galahad in Spamalot (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble), Posthumus in Cymbeline (Berkeley Shakespeare Company), and Igor in Young Frankenstein (Pittsburg Theatre Company). Phillip holds a BA in English from UC Berkeley and an MA in Teaching from Saint Mary’s College of California.
Follow him on Instagram: @phillleyva
C.S. Bauman (Scenery, Props, Art) is excited to be working with Berkeley Shakespeare Company. Bauman is an artist and instructor, his focus is on immersive, experiential art. He has a BFA in sculpture from Temple University, Tyler School of Art. The idea of doing a production of the Tempest is something Bauman discussed with Director Stuart Bousel over 15 years ago. Bauman and his partner Janice Pratt have managed HI Point Montara Lighthouse since 2003 for HI USA a non profit organization.
Maya Pratt-Bauman (Makeup Design) is very excited to be working with Berkeley Shakespeare Company for the first time. She has a BA in acting but has found that behind the scenes work is her calling. Currently perusing her cosmetology license Pratt-Bauman is also a freelance makeup artist. Designing for this show has been an exciting experience and she hopes you all enjoy the show.
Find her online at @maya.makesitup
Special thanks to Linda Y. Huang (Stage Manager), Lyre Alston (Costume Designer), and Janice Pratt (On-site Management)
Additional thanks to Sara Nicole Mindful Photography for capturing our show with such artistry!
saranicolemindfulphotography.pixieset.com
Berkeley Shakespeare Company 