Friday and Saturday evening, the Hillsdale College Theatre Department will host a staged reading of senior Kiley Hatch’s play, “Questions for My Mother,” in Markel Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. 

The play reimagines Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” as a one-act comedy in modern English from the point of view of Miranda, the daughter of Prospero. According to Hatch, this staged reading marks an important step in her senior project in playwriting, allowing her to hear the script acted out and receive audience feedback. Rather than act out the story with scenery and costumes, actors will read from the script in dramatic fashion. 

“A staged reading takes all the spectacle out,” said director Michael Beyer, production manager for the theater department. “It’s more of a tool for the playwright to hear her words. It’s a step in the process of writing a play.”

Freshman Sophia Miller, who plays Miranda, offered some advice to potential attendees of the staged reading. 

“You don’t need to be familiar with the story of ‘The Tempest,’” Miller said. “But you will get a much richer and deeper appreciation if you are. Don’t expect the physicality of a full fledged voice production. This is voice acting -– it’s like you’re sitting in a sound booth for a movie.”

The staged reading will include a time for audience talkback after the performance, in which audience members are free to offer comment or criticism of the script.

“It reminds you that, as an audience member, you have a moral responsibility to actively respond,” Hatch said. 

Hatch welcomes the feedback, whether it takes the form of a direct response in the audience talkback or a later conversation with a friend.

“My job is to be a sponge,” Hatch said. “As a writer, I’m not allowed to defend or explain what I’ve written. If it’s not clear, I’ve done something wrong.”  

Beyer said he has enjoyed Hatch’s receptivity to critique as she moves toward a final version of the script. 

“It’s nice watching little light bulbs go off as she hears things,” Beyer said. “It’s a joyful thing.”

After the staged reading, Hatch will continue to make revisions in the script before seeking a full production. 

The idea for the play originated five years ago with a humorous family interaction.

“In 2018, I used the Miranda monologue for an audition,” Hatch said. “Around that time, I started dating my now fiancé. My dad made a joke about how he’d kept me like Miranda, since I went to an all-girls school and hadn’t known many boys.”

Hatch revisited the idea throughout her college years, drawing further inspiration from the Great Books and directing classes she took. She was also influenced by the gender dynamics she saw play out across the Hillsdale campus. 

“I was really curious about writing something that was natural femininity in a petri dish,” Hatch said.

Through her studies at Hillsdale, Hatch developed an affinity for Shakespeare as a playwright.

“I just want to be Shakespeare’s little sister,” Hatch said. “When you want to learn something, you copy someone who’s really good.”

When she was presented with the choice between an acting, directing, or playwriting senior project at Hillsdale, Hatch elected to write, reimagining “The Tempest” from Miranda’s point of view.

“I wanted to choose something that would really demonstrate how much I’ve learned and why I came here,” Hatch said. “I wanted something I could walk away with.”

Christopher Matsos, chairman and associate professor of theatre, has taught Hatch in multiple theatre classes, including an advanced playwriting class. 

“I’m glad to see that she has steered more in the direction of writing for her senior project, because that’s probably where the world needs her most,” Matsos said. “She has a very singular vision of what she wants to bring as a playwright. Her strengths are really well suited to a project like this.”

Matsos said he appreciates Hatch’s attention to the character of Miranda. 

“Miranda is pretty woefully underdeveloped, and I’m sure Shakespeare had reasons for that,” Matsos said. “Any kind of imaginative reinterpretation of Miranda is welcome in that larger conversation of the story of Shakespeare’s last play.”

Hatch’s play, Miller said, is true to the original character of Miranda. 

“Kiley maintains Shakespeare’s idea of Miranda in terms of her innocence and playfulness,” Miller said.

Junior Nathan Malawey plays Ferdinand, the young prince of Naples who falls in love with Miranda.

“It’s a very well-thought-out look into a character who really acts more like a plot element in the original work,” Malawey said. “I’m always a sucker for those types of stories that take those elements of the original work and make them more human. I think Kiley is really good at doing that.”

Malawey enjoys Hatch’s attention to the romance between Miranda and Ferdinand, which largely happens offstage in the original play. 

“It shows the driving force of the young love that acts as the crux of the original play,” Malawey said. “It’s a very concrete vision of that.”

Malawey looks forward to bringing Hatch’s work to a wider audience after witnessing the fun the cast has had with bringing the script to life.

“It’s a very malleable, natural process that has been a joy to be a part of and I think will be a joy to watch,” Malawey said. 

Miller expressed her own enthusiasm about the coming performances.

“If I were an audience member, I would go to both shows and then ask if there were some more, just to keep hearing it and getting a grasp for how deep it is,” Miller said. “The work is just so phenomenal. Hearing Kiley speak about it, her passion for it is so palpable.”

Matsos said he looks forward to Hatch’s work and hopes for more senior playwriting projects in the future. 

“There are a lot of pretty bad plays written these days,” Matsos said. “Hillsdale students are uniquely equipped to offer things to the world, and playwriting is an area where I’d like to see even more voices coming forward.”