The Bard’s final work brings a story of a shipwreck, magic, and young love to life. New Art Theatre brought a laudable performance of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest to the Hilltop April 5 and 6.

Shea, the founder of New Art Theatre and director of the Dana Center for the Humanities, presented the show in conjunction with the Conversatio program. Music director and lighting designer of the performance was composer, performer, and assistant director of the Dana Center, Joe Deleault.

The event was required for Conversatio students as part of their “Art and Beauty” unit and included “talk-back” sessions during where students and other audience members could discuss the work.

The New Art Theatre was founded by Shea and produces both contemporary and classic works featuring performers from around the country. This production of The Tempest featured New Yorkers Michael Albert as the character of Stephano and Taylor Lewis as Ariel as well as New England artists like Pat Tierney as Prospero.

As an audience member, this performance was a memorable one due to its incredibly energetic and talented cast, as well as the simple but smooth and visually interesting technical elements.

Professor Gary Bouchard, chair of the English Department, heartily agreed, calling the show “a terrific performance with many highlights, not the least of which was the energy of many of the young cast members.”

“I think the production really brought to life both the delightful and complicated elements of this play and also demonstrated the many choices that a director and cast have to make when staging a Shakespeare play.”

Professor Bouchard concluded by saying, “We should all be grateful to Bob Shea and New Art for bringing to our students a quality production of The Tempest, which for many of our students was their first experience of seeing a Shakespeare play performed live.”