Quintessence Theatre Group’s ‘The Tempest’ is a magical act of teamwork. It closes this weekend.

Philadelphia theater has a long history of producing Shakespeare’s work, with his plays usually making multiple appearances each season. For The Tempest, the script calls for a lot of magical moments that are well-suited for special effects, many of which are being brought to life this season at Quintessence Theatre Group. The production, helmed by Quintessence artistic director Alex Burns, uses clowning and masks to enhance the magical aspects innate to the show.

The masks and clowning aspects come into play with three characters — Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano — whose drunkard antics are the production’s comedic highlights. To help get the clowning right, Burns brought in Angie Foster to lead several workshops for the cast. “Clowning is partly about letting go of logic to find a deeper truth so it’s possible to explore deeply,” Foster said of the essence of her workshops.

“Masks excite me, as they help us return to the origin and ritualistic roots of the theater,” Burns said. He reached out to Kasidy Devlin and Natalie Kropf at Barbaric Yawp Workshop, the husband-and-wife duo who design and build masks for theatrical productions. The masks are carved from wood, forging exaggerated almost cartoonlike expressions that help convey the true intentions of the character, and the themes of disconnect between a person’s performative and authentic self.

Burns’ production team designed the costumes and the almost-magical stagecraft. The script demands a shipwreck, a harpy, and a wedding overseen by a Goddess, and Burns wanted to go all in and create a spectacle. For this, he sought out local artist Curtis Coyote. “His description of the horror of the Harpy guided my creation of the latex helmet and grotesque body shapes to go with the 10-foot wingspan,” says Coyote of one sequence. He also created a boat that shatters into several pieces , among a sequence involving a fog-filled stage with masked performers carrying the boat.

While the play has about 15 characters, this production only uses seven performers, with all but one playing multiple parts. This meant many quick costume changes, as the actors changed into ornate ball gowns from full suits and top hats. Jane Casanave’s costume pieces were perfect, especially for Caliban. Described as half human, half monster, he wears a padded chest suit but is dressed in tatters. His mask is grotesque, with unruly hair coming out of the top. The goddesses sparkle from their masks to the hem of their skirts.

The collaborations that Burns fosters convey the magic that theater can produce. The set (codesigned by Burns and Ellen Moore) has a runway leading to a circular platform in the middle. Audiences are seated around, creating varying levels of viewing. The actors enter from behind the audience banks and through the stage floor, allowing the show to surround the audience. Fog machines and the light design elevate the magic of the world audiences are introduced to in the play.

When the show opens with a shipwreck, the audience is brought directly onto the bow of the ship, straining to see the bodies whose voices call out through the mist. It sets the tone for the brand of theatrical magic that audiences are in store for. Guests have a chance to be immersed in this magical world until April 2.

Quintessence Theatre Group’s “The Tempest” runs through April 2 at the Sedgwick Theater. https://www.quintessencetheatre.org/thetempest