Directors and actors have continually reinterpreted "The Tempest" and its characters since the play's first performance in 1611. The play has been read as everything from a pastoral romance to a commentary on colonialist policies in the New World, with characters ranging from powerful magicians to Third World revolutionaries to house slaves to rebellious punks to high-tech programmers and back again.
It is to this plethora of adaptations that director Kate Whoriskey adds her vision of the play at the Shakespeare Theatre, and it shines among the multitude.
The plot of "The Tempest" quickly becomes intricate and complicated. Prospero, a sorcerer and former duke of Milan who is stranded on a remote island with his daughter Miranda, creates a storm to shipwreck his brother Antonio and his other political enemies who conspired against him. He seeks to strand them on his island and seek revenge for his exile. What follows is a timeless story of vengeance, love and ultimately forgiveness. In it, Whoriskey seeks to emphasize the play's theme of forgiveness, providing a contrast to the eye-for-an-eye sense of justice she finds in contemporary society.
She underscores that theme by casting Daoud Heidami, an Arab-American, as the native Caliban. In other productions, Caliban, who is Prospero's deformed slave, has been cast as an African-American in order to create dialogue about the effects of colonialism in the New World and to invoke familiar themes of systematic oppression. In this production, Whoriskey seeks to extend that dialogue to the Arab community because of the charged circumstances surrounding the way Arabs and Muslims are perceived in the current social climate.
Phillip Goodwin turns in a masterful performance as Prospero. He carefully balances the character's desire for revenge with his desire for good, and thus prevents Prospero from becoming a mere caricature of an evil sorcerer.
Daniel Breaker is truly powerful as Ariel, skillfully handling the transitions between his whimsical magic and his pleas for freedom. He looks perfectly comfortable flying through the air, though he manages the final scene where he finally touches down with such poignant body language that not a word need be said.
Heidami lives up to the expectations of his director, portraying Caliban as a man much maligned by his captors, a man who has more dignity than savage in him despite his rough ways.
Although these three actors give great performances, the stage is temporarily stolen by the hilarious Stephano (Floyd King) and Trinculo (Hugh Nees). They provide comic relief to the more serious matters in the play with their drunkenness, and they do it without crossing into ridicule.
Casting isn't the only way Whoriskey gets the audience's attention. Opening with a sudden flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, the play is visually stunning throughout.
Walt Spangler designed a beautiful yet functional set consisting of two rotating half pipes that could be used as a boat's rigging or an island's hills. Along the front of the stage is a pool of water simulating the ocean the characters splash in.
Also impressive are the lighting choices. Charlie Morrison truly understands how a mood can be made or broken with a single beam of light. His murky darkness, spotlighting on the plays main characters, and color changes in the water help underscore the theme and mood of the show. The lighting in the final scene especially stands out. Lit entirely by candlelight, this lighting is both elegant and appropriate.
The costumes complete the visual feast. Catherine Zuber is to be commended for her work on the long capes worn by the spirits. The wizard Prospero's magic cloak of faces and the mermaids' fins are also noteworthy.
Even though the acting is fabulous, the thing that really makes the play is flight director Rob Besserer's creative use of strings to make characters defy gravity and fly about. Mostly used with Ariel and the other spirits, the strings are also used in the opening scene of the storm, as sailors cling to the rigging as they are tossed around and are suspended in a blue-lit air to simulate being thrown into the ocean.
For those planning to see a play before summer break, try and see this one. It will expand cultural horizons and provide inexpensive entertainment. So skip the movie this weekend and impress a date by taking him or her to see "The Tempest" at the Shakespeare Theatre instead.
