The Tempest: Esta Isla es Mía

The Tempest: Esta Isla es Mía is one of my favorite productions I’ve ever designed. A world premiere, conceived, adapted, and performed entirely by Eric Davis, freeFall’s artistic director. A one-man adaptation of The Tempest set alongside a Cuban independence struggle narrative.

The design problem was different from anything I’d worked on. A single actor was on stage the entire show, alone for ninety minutes. Props, scenery, and lighting had to become his scene partners. He talked to a chair, and the chair needed light that read as another presence in the room. Shadow play and tight shutter cuts let him share the stage with figures who weren’t actually there.

My favorite design element was the storm at the top of the show. A practical water effect drenched Eric in the opening sequence, and then he spent the rest of the ninety minutes alone on stage, wet, in the sand.

The hardest design choice across the show was visibility versus atmosphere. The script and the blocking told you which moments needed a clear face and which moments served the audience better by holding the actor’s silhouette or a single expression in light. Trusting the story to tell you that, rather than defaulting to face-light, was the whole approach.