An Easter Egg Hunt through The Tempest

Our production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest is a new adaptation by director Teresa Love.

Blake Haskett and Paige Fowler in BYU Young Company’s The Tempest.

This production is full of "easter eggs" alluding to other classic stories. You'll hear them in the performance! Can you guess what the following are referring to?

“It was a dark and stormy afternoon.”
“Let the wild rumpus start!”
“Rande with an E.”
“Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings!“
“Ascendio! “
“As you wish!”
“Wakey wakey, green eggs and bakey!”
“Still hungry!”
“Tut, tut! It looks like rain.”
“I can sell him back home to a circus, for money!”
Turkish Delight
“And so they sailed off, through night and day and almost over twelve years…”

KEY:

A big cliche in amateur fiction, (like Snoopy's attempts at writing in Peanuts). Originally from Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
“Anne with an E” is the main character’s preferred spelling in Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
“The Walrus and the Carpenter,” a poem in Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A lifting charm in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Bill Martin Jr.
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr Seuss
A tempting treat in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

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The Tempest 2024

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by Emme Corbett, dramaturg As a senior student studying history at BYU. One of the first concepts you learn as a history major is that when you study history, it is vital that you do not bring your modern-day biases with you. As strange as some past behaviors or occurrences may be to our modern eyes, understanding the reality of what life was like in historical societies allows for a more authentic and rich study of the past. It also becomes evident fairly quickly that no matter what point in time you’re studying or where you are in the world, there will be commonalities across many cultures. The shared similarity of the human experience allows these connections to occur, so it is no surprise that researching various time periods could be related back to Caesar in Ancient Rome. It was necessary in our dramaturgical research to explore three major time periods that are encompassed within this play in one way or another. These time periods are first, 49 B.C. Rome, when Julius Caesar first became a dictator of Ancient Rome, and the setting for the original script. Second, 1599 England, when William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was first performed, most likely at the Globe Theatre. And third, 1919 Italy, when Italy was recovering from participating in the First World War, and the setting for our performance at BYU. This weakened state created a situation where authoritarianism could ensue. It was an interesting experience to be able to connect the culture of Ancient Rome to that of Italy in the early 20th century. The reason for choosing this production of Julius Caesar to take place in 1919 Italy is not random. The significance of that time period is to draw upon the reality that history repeats itself. An aspect of history that is repeatedly detrimental to countless societies is when a group of people finds itself weak and vulnerable--whether that is due to lack of resources, a change in leadership, exiting a war, or simply evolving generations--and a power vacuum is created. This moment in time when desperation allows for someone to assume leadership (based purely on the need to rely on anybody) and provide temporary relief is often too quickly turned into an authoritarian government. The third time period that we also had to account for in this production was the time of Shakespeare in 1599 England. Some of the questions we had to ask ourselves were: Why Julius Caesar? What elements from the story of Caesar’s assassination did Shakespeare feel would resonate with his audience? From these questions and further research on the Elizabethan period, we discovered that, like in 1919 Italy, there was a concern with the succession to the Crown. Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne at the time and created conflict among the people beyond her just being a woman in power. Queen Elizabeth never married and subsequently never bore any children, thus failing to secure a successor who was in her direct line. Another element of the play that related to Shakespeare’s audience was the role of the plebeians. Their behavior in the play could symbolize how the lower class in the Elizabethan Era, while uneducated and changeable, contribute largely to the success of their society.

An Easter Egg Hunt through The Tempest

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