"O, BRAVE NEW WORLD..."

A Review of William Shakespeare's The Tempest
Produced by the Illinois Shakespeare Festival

by James L. Seay

It is generally thought that The Tempest is Shakespeare's "farewell to the theatre." Actually, it is the last play he wrote, so far as we know. However, the play seems to be more of an expression of Shakespeare's experience in coming to terms with life rather than a retirement from the theatre. Ironically, the one passage from Act V, Scene 1 that is usually interpreted as his resignation letter ("But this rough magic I here abjure, and when I have requir'd some heavenly music - which even now I do - to work my end upon their senses, that this airy charm is for, I'll break my staff, bury it certain fadoms in the earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound I'll drown my book.") comes from Obid'd Metamorphoses (VII.192-219), partially from the original Latin and partially from Arthur Golding's English translation. But still, we tend to wonder, did the Bard actually intend to suggest his retirement from the stage?

As the first in its offering of two Shakespearean play for its 2010 season, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival is offering The Tempest, directed by Festival Artistic Director, Deb Alley. As is the case with most of Shakespeare's comedies, The Tempest deals with young love, in this case between Prospero's (David Sitler) daughter, Miranda (Katrina Kuntz) and Ferdinand (Benjamin Cole), son of Alonso, the King of Naples (George Judy). The themes of revenge, redemption and forgiveness, along with young love, drive the story and all are intriguingly presented by this talented company under Professor Alley's expert direction. Set on an enchanted isle which, most believe, was suggested by the "still-vex'd Bermoothes", a common spelling equivalent for the Spanish, Bermudez, likely based on a 1609 shipwreck off Bermuda, the play is concerned with the shipwreck of the King of Naples' party and their stranding on an enchanted, foreboding island ruled over by the enigmatic and powerful magician, Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan, who, with his daughter, Miranda, was banished and cast to sea a dozen years earlier by his ambitious, usurping brother, Antonio (David Marcotte) with the assistance of the King of Naples. The tempest which casts them off is no accident of nature. It is, instead, of Prospero's making, part of his plot to revenge himself upon those who stole his dukedom and exiled him and his daughter to this island.

Serving Prospero, much in the same fashion as Puck serves Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream is his spiritual servant, Ariel, well-played (and beautifully made up) by Gerson Dacanay. Also among those cast ashore from the shipwreck are the Jester, Trinculo ( Chris Amos) and the butler, Stephano (Patrick New) who encounter the enigmatic Caliban (Kareem Bandealy). Bandealy brings a believability and vulnerability to Caliban that I had not seen before. In my estimation, Caliban is the most complicated, difficult character in the play. I have seen him played as a misshapen monster, a demented seeker of vengeance and a misunderstood dreamer, but Bandealy's interpretation of the character was new, at least to this reviewer, and, in a word, refreshing. Trinculo and Stephano are, of course, characters thrown in "for the pit," vulgar comics to please the groundlings, much as the Rude Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night. I guess in another life, I must have been a groundling, as I found Amos and New's Trinculo and Stephano to be delightful.

And I really became emotional when Prospero gave his Act IV, Scene 1 speech ("Our revels now are ended: these our actors - as I have foretold you - were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air; and like the baseless fabric of this vision the cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve and like this insubstantial pageant faded leave not a rack behind: we are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.") I read these lines at the funeral of a close friend of mine, a Shakespearean actor who died too young, a quarter of a century ago. I had a hard time getting those words out then, and I cannot hear them yet without a tear welling up in mine eye.

Again, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival has delivered a truly enjoyable Shakespearean evening, beginning, I might add, with some charming scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew by Bloomington's TheatresCool group (www.TheatresCool.com) in the courtyard before the main production. As a side note, let me say that it was refreshing to see Shakespeare performed in Elizabethan dress for a change. With the possible exceptions of the histories, Shakespeare is timeless enough to be done in a variety of costume periods, but, being a purist, occasionally I kind of like to see it in the garb that the groundlings at the Globe might have seen. The Tempest will continue July 1, 3, 9, 18, 20, 23 and 28 as well as August 5 and 8. For ticket reservations and additional information, call (309) 438-2535.