Word: tempest
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1990
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Lasers embroidered the curtains with bursts of aquamarine and white to simulate lightning. An electronic hiss and crackle conjured up thunder. Billows of cloth suggested wind and rain, then fell away to reveal the swaying prow of a tempest-tossed Renaissance ship. Its captain shouted orders, wrestled with the wheel, tumbled into a make-believe sea and emerged a moment later as if dragging himself onto shore. He cried in triumph, "Sweet Jesus, I'm alive...
...Tempest involves a savage storm, visiting goddesses, star-crossed lovers and supernatural powers and begins. But Bishop's production, rather than bewitching the audience, only leaves those unfamiliar with the text confused, and those acquainted, sorely disappointed...
...first dramatic scene of the work, which depicts the magical tempest for which the play is named, is strangely ommitted, as is a key song of the sprite, Ariel. But Bishop often ignores the options offered her by the text. In this, the most musical of Shakespeare's plays, she omits many of the scropted songs...
...Bishop favors innovation rather than textual adherence. Her crosscasting of Ariel and Sebastian, the brother of Alonso, King of Naples certainly holds some potential for subversive entertainment. But in this production of The Tempest, that potential is never realized. The fault lies not with the interpretations themselves, but with sheer carelessness and bad acting. What the text clearly demands, the actor fail to supply...
Steve Petersen and Jeff Branion as the drunken cohorts Trinculo and Stephano are the delightful exceptions in The Tempest, their comic rapport is as convincing as it is entertaining. And John Ducey as Caliban frequently conveys the pathos and grotesqueness of his character effectively. But their performances are not enough to redeem a production rendered in a dramatic monochrome...