Enchanted by the Magic of the Everyman Stage: Zack Powell Brings the Whimsy of A Midsummer's Night Dream to Life in His Latest Role

Zach Powell as Puck (A Midsummer's Night Dream) - Photo Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography

By Frankie Kujawa
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​Running through Sunday, June 9th, Everyman Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a dynamic ensemble cast of 12 seasoned actors who are no strangers to Shakespeare. Directed by Everyman Associate Artistic Director, Noah Himmelstein, and adapted by Gavin Witt, Himmelstein leans into the strengths and bonds of the Everyman Resident Company by casting it a little differently by skewing the ages of the young lovers. Everyman Resident Company Member Zack Powell recently chatted about his dual roles as Puck and Philostrate in the performance, his background as a performer, and the power theater has on Everyman audiences.

Zach Powell as Puck (A Midsummer's Night Dream) - Photo Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography

“[In this production] I think you’re going to get all the standards you’d be used to getting with A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” began Powell.  “You’re going to get magic, comedy and love.  However, I think that audiences are really going to be surprised by how well this non-traditional casting works.”  Powell went on to explain how this Everyman production, under Himmelstein’s vision, has brought members of Everyman’s Resident Company together to explore a different take on ‘young love.’
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Powell continued, “As [many] may know the four lovers [in the original play], are normally 20-somethings, but are a little bit older than that in our production. They’re all in their 50’s.  So, we’re doing a flashback to their youth, and they’re playing these roles as if they’re reliving the story from their youth. I think it actually works really well.” 

Artistic Director Noah Himmelstein’s unique vision infuses the play with a fresh perspective, inspired by the late 70’s and early 80’s, where audiences will be transported into a world of magic, mischief, and imagination set to the stylings, sounds, and vibrant energy of the lovers.

“They’re spectacular actors, so I think the audiences are going to be surprised at that.” ~ Zack Powell

For Powell, whose formal training included studies into Shakesperean classics, breathing life into the characters of Puck and Philostrate was an exciting task. “Puck is a púca, [a creature of folklore considered to be bringers of good and bad fortune]. He’s a spirit that is just as likely to do something good for you and give you like a little miracle, or he may prank you and have a laugh at your expense,” laughed Powell.  “And we do see a lot of his pranking in this play. He makes a mistake by enchanting the wrong lovers at one point in time, but instead of fixing the problem right away, he’s like ‘Let’s just see how this plays out.’”

​“Philostrate is also a really fun character,” Powell continued.  “I like that we’re doing this doubling where the actor who is playing the role of Oberon is also playing the role of Theseus.  Puck is Oberon’s servant/friend/sidekick and Philostrate is Theseus’ servant/friend/sidekick. Both [characters] like to give their master a hard time at various parts of the play. So, it’s a fun parallel relationship that I get to have with company member René Thornton who plays Oberon and Theseus.”

Zach Powell as Christopher (The Sound Inside) - Photo Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography

Growing up in rural Kansas, Powell’s journey to Everyman Theatre began with his first play at the age of 16 years old. “I did a play in high school called Noises Off, and it’s a very funny comedy. There’s a great movie version of it with Carol Burnett and Michael Caine. It was a movie we watched all the time as kids.” 
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When Powell’s high school decided to produce the show, he realized quickly that he had to audition.  “I was cast in the role of ‘Gary’ - which was a big role.” Powell smiled, “It was the most fun I had ever had in my entire life up to that point. The audiences were rolling in the aisles. I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I want try another [production].’” It was soon after Powell’s performance in his high school production of The Music Man, where the actor instantly realized that performing was his calling.

After his undergraduate studies in Kansas, Powell explored further education in order to hone his craft.  “The first several years of my career I did all musical theater. It was great, but I wasn’t acting in theaters at the level I had wanted to be working at.”  Powell went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in Classical Acting at Illinois State University.  “Then I really started focusing on working at these major regional theaters.”

Zack Powell as Alex (The Book Club Play) - Photo Credit: Teresa Castracane Photography

Powel continued, “Our M.F.A. program at Illinois State University was run by a man named Henry Woronicz who ran the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a number of years. For those not familiar with it, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the largest Shakesperean theater in the country. So, it was great to have that experience. Also, as part of our training, we took a summer and studied abroad at The Globe in London. So that really set me on track to do a lot of this classical work.”
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After graduate school, Powell worked for three different seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. “Actors would go out there for four to six months at a time and do three or four plays.” 

From there, Powell went onto the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA.  “It was there that I met René Thronton who is playing Oberon [in Everyman’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream].   We’re best friends, and so it’s great to get a chance to do this show together and work together again after a couple of years of not getting to perform together.”

Powell added, “That’s how I got into classical theater. It definitely is a skill set that is sort of separate from doing contemporary work. So, I’m very glad that I’ve had that opportunity to have that training so I can tap into it. As many know, Shakespeare is still the most produced playwright in the world.”

Soon after, Powell eventually made his way to his artistic home at Everyman Theatre.  “I am so lucky,” he began.  “To be able to have these artists to work with…and not just the actors, but the directors, the designers, and the production staff.  One of the real driving reasons to have a company, such as the Everyman Resident Company, is you have all these people who have chemistry. There’s such a deep trust and such a deep shared history.  So much of it lies in the fact that we [at Everyman] have a really strong shared moral approach to the work that just doesn’t really exist anymore. The resident company model used to be a very popular model for theaters across America but it’s sort of gone away.”

Powell went on to explain that it’s because of this model that he has been able to showcase his vulnerability as an actor in a comfortable and safe environment. “It’s something really special to be able to have that much trust and to be able to go into a room on the first read through of a play and to be able to know that I don’t have to worry about looking foolish or looking weak or looking any kind of way because there’s just such a trust and built-in family aspect to this theater. You can take big risks. You can be really vulnerable. That’s not to say you can’t do that in other theaters, but it certainly makes it easier when you have that relationship established.”

Like many freelance artists, Powell went on to discuss the benefits of working for a resident company in order to make a living as a full-time actor. “Since I know I usually have about two shows a year at Everyman, I am able to build my season around that and can spend all my additional time and energy trying to book shows at other theaters when I’m not performing at Everyman. So, this model is really helpful for the career of a workhorse actor. I consider myself a journeyman actor - someone who does this for their life’s work but is not necessarily looking to be the next Broadway star.”

Rehearsal Photo of Zack Powell (The Book Club Play)

​Delving deeper into the artistic nature what drives him as an artist, Powell circled back to the Greeks, from which Shakespeare drew his inspiration for A Midsummer’s Night Dream. “The Greeks had their hospital next to the theater because in their minds the hospital had working physicians for the body, and the theater had ‘physicians’ for the soul. I definitely believe that’s a real thing. I think that the art of theater has the ability to touch human beings in a way that nothing else can.  I think part of that is due to the ephemeral nature of theater.  The fact that [theater] is just so fleeting, so passing and live. The interaction that we as performers have with audiences each night is different and special. The experience you are sharing with them is completely unique every single time.  I just don’t know that there’s another art form that is that fleeting, brief and changeable. You can’t contain it. You can’t walk away with it or take it home with you physically. Of course, you take it with you with your heart and your head, but it’s not like taking a painting home or buying a movie.  It’s an experience that you went and had with others in a shared space. I think that’s what keeps people coming back because the experience is always different. There’s something magic about that.”