Aquinas Academy presents Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ in Hampton

Four-plus centuries of Shakespeare fans can’t be wrong.

Count a group of today’s teenagers among them.

When Michael Flynn announced the Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh’s 2023 high school play would be “The Tempest,” his students weren’t exactly thrilled about performing in something so antiquated.

“They always want to do a musical. And there’s music in this, to be sure,” he said. “Then once they auditioned, they were like, ‘This is a lot of fun.’”

As director of annual productions since joining the Aquinas Academy faculty in 2003, Flynn selected William Shakespeare’s works occasionally, twice presenting “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and another time, “The Winter’s Tale.”

But it’s been at least a decade since he took the helm for anything by the Bard of Avon, and “The Tempest,” with plenty of action driving its story of magic and intrigue, makes for a fitting return with its performances on Nov. 15 and 16 at 2308 W. Hardies Road, Hampton.

“The whole play starts with a shipwreck. It’s really fun to stage that,” Flynn said. “What boy doesn’t want to get up there and yell, ‘We split! We split! The prayers!’ — with screaming and bells ringing and naval whistles blowing and all of these things happening.

“And I’m old school,” he acknowledged. “I don’t use soundboards. I have a wind machine that our art teacher made for us a couple of years ago for another play. It’s just a piece of tarp over a wooden wheel kind of thing with slats in it. So when you spin it, the tarp goes up against the wooden slats, and it sounds amazing.”

The teacher he references is Brady Buchanan, one of many Aquinas Academy instructors who regularly contribute their talents to the plays. Joining him on the artistic front is Jenny Fetchko, who’s new to the faculty this year.

“When I told her I was doing ‘The Tempest,’ she was right on it,” Flynn said, with a resulting multi-panel rendering to serve as the model for what will appear onstage, primarily in Styrofoam form. “What she has conceived is such a beautiful set, an island with water around the edges, and green grass and cliffs. It’s just spectacular.”

‘Our gymnasium becomes a theater’

Actually, “stage” is a relative term. Plays take place atop a connected series of three-foot-high tables purchased for the school by a benefactor, according to Flynn.

“We build it in our cafeteria every year, and then we build the set around it,” he said. “And then, for a really brief, shining moment, our gymnasium becomes a theater. That’s always a treat.”

So is seeing what theology teacher Rosemary Meland, in her volunteer role as costume designer, comes up with for Flynn’s productions.

“She is a miracle worker,” he attested. “We actually have built up, over the years, a really decent costume shop.”

In fact, other high schools borrowed from the collection for plays such as “Cinderella” at North Catholic and “Our Town” at Deer Lakes.

Naturally, Flynn has nothing but compliments for his colleagues’ efforts on behalf of Aquinas performances.

“You would not believe how easy these people make my job. All I have to do is direct the kids and spend my time with them,” he said. “And that’s just a joy.”

Taking the protagonist’s role in “The Tempest” as Prospero, the displaced duke who summons the titular storm, is senior Josh Schlemmer.

As an eighth-grader, he was poised to rob from the rich and give to the poor as the lead in “Robin Hood.”

“Two weeks before the play was going to go on, we got hit by covid. And that was it,” Flynn recalled. “That’s my only time, ever, that I have not done a play with the middle school. It was awful.”

‘I want the kids to have a great time’

Now that the pandemic is relegated to unpleasant memories, Katherine Stampfel is ready to portray Miranda, Prospero’s daughter. Flynn, who called her a talented dancer and singer, said she talked about auditioning at a public school before she enrolled at Aquinas Academy.

“You’re in this dark theater, and there are, like, three grim people sitting three rows back. And they stare at you and say, ‘Go,’” he said. “My auditions are just genuine fun. I want the kids to have a great time. I don’t want to put any pressure on them. I want them to be able to show me what they can do. I don’t stick them out there alone.”

Showing what she can do as the mystical spirit Ariel is junior Ashlin Knox, who often serves as a choreographer for Flynn.

“She’s a very fine actress, and I’ve never been able to get her to do Shakespeare,” he explained. “Now that she’s actually doing one, she says, ‘This is great stuff.’ And it is great stuff.”

Providing some comic relief is JJ Ortiz as Trinculo, the opportunistic jester whose main ambition is to align with the perceived leader in any situation he encounters.

And proving a turn as Caliban, Prospero’s half-human slave and antagonist, is freshman Alice Dingle, who played Mrs. Darling in the middle school’s “Peter Pan” last year.

“She has an incredible stage presence with just an incredibly rich voice,” Flynn said. “So I actually cast her as Caliban. And I checked with her. I said, ‘Look, you’re the monster. They’re going to be saying all these things about you being a monster. Are you OK with that?’ And she was.”

Alice, as it turns out, is a descendant of Charles Dingle (1887-1956), a film actor known for portraying harsh, villainous characters in the likes of William Wyler’s “The Little Foxes” and Walter Lang’s “Call Me Madam.” Flynn’s take on her pedigree:

“Now I see where she gets it.”

For more information about Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh in Hampton, visit www.aquinasacademy-pittsburgh.org.