Back for its 26th season, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival returned to the Glen Friday night under a cloud-laden sky for what’s considered to be William Shakespeare’s last solo-written play. This production, directed by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s previous artistic director, Rick Dildine, has been streamlined to 90 or so minutes with no intermission, and atypically begins with a celebratory prelude. Alonso, the King of Naples (Kathryn A. Bentley), toasts their daughter, newly wed to the King of Tunis, allowing us an early glimpse of the royal entourage before their ship is caught in a violent storm on their way back to Naples. Not far away, Prospero (Nancy Bell), a magician and the deposed Duke of Milan, has been living with her daughter Miranda (Sigrid Wise) on an enchanted island after being left to their own devices twelve years earlier. Prospero’s brother, Antonio (Jeff Cummings), wanted to supplant the popular Prospero as Duke, and conspired with Alonso to send her and her then infant daughter off on a boat headed for the Mediterranean. During her years of exile, Prospero has been honing her skills and plotting her revenge, enlisting a fairy spirit, Ariel (Eliza Pagelle), to assist in achieving her ends. Then there’s Caliban (Chauncy Thomas), the son of a long-dead witch who used to rule over the island. The island, by rights, should belong to him, but Prospero uses her magic to bind Caliban to a life of servitude. It’s Prospero and Ariel’s sorcery that raises the tempest, causing Alonso, Antonio and the rest of their party to be washed ashore and scattered on Prospero’s doorstep - right where she wants them.
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| Boatswain (Michale Grieve) and the cast of The Tempest. Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography |
Christopher and Justin Swader’s scenic design features a towering, upended shipwreck, with levels and depth that allow performers to peer out, perch atop and lurk inside. Jeff Behm lights this structure beautifully within and without, and punctuates Prospero’s spell casting and the stormy seas to rousing effect. Melanie Chen Cole’s sound design also enhances the mysterious nature of the island, with the addition of music that is incorporated throughout the production (a battered piano rests among the ruins). While the musical and vocal talents of the cast shine brightly (courtesy of musical director, Michael Grieve, along with Crayton Haney, Otto Klemp, Harrison Farmer and others), the inclusion of acoustic songs and lyrics that lend a rustic, folksy kind of vibe, occasionally decelerates the momentum and, for me, felt a little out of place when played against an otherwise pretty traditional staging.
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| Prospero (Nancy Bell) and Ariel (Eliza Pagelle). Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography |
Bell holds the audience under her sway as deftly as Prospero orchestrates the unfolding events under her staff. In a performance that is not without its share of humor, Bell gives Prospero's vengeance a maternal ferocity, and is arrogantly domineering with those she has brought into her service. Thomas’s Caliban is a most interesting character. He’s costumed wonderfully by Kathleen Geldard, who makes him strange enough to be “othered”, but human enough to be sympathetic. While Caliban is certainly not without faults, he's considered a savage by everyone, though he’s the only native inhabitant of the island. His coarseness, briefly glimpsed sensitivity, and sad tendency to repeat his own mistakes is embodied by Thomas in a very well balanced performance. Pagelle’s Ariel is a darkly ethereal spirit who serves Prospero with an indebted willingness, but manages to cause something to stir in her master, nudging Prospero closer to forgiveness, and inching herself closer to the freedom she’s eager for. It wouldn’t be a Shakespeare play without a couple of inebriated merrymakers, and José Sabillón’s jester Trinculo and Michael Doherty’s butler Stephano offer up plenty of comic relief. Wise’s Miranda, innocent and compassionate, is loyal to her mother, while Ferdinand, the son of King Alonso who falls for her, played by Zay Williams, seems as naïve as she is. Both portray these young lovers with dewy-eyed charm, adding a touch of romance and hope, though they are also pawns in Prospero's master plan.
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| Caliban (Chauncy Thomas), Stephano (Michael Doherty) and Trinculo (José Sabillón). Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography |
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival never disappoints, and with plenty more productions up their sleeve for this year, The Tempest is a great way to kick it all off. It’s playing in Forest Park’s Shakespeare Glen until the 21st.
THE TEMPEST
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rick Dildine
Shakespeare Glen, Forest Park
through June 21 | tickets: FREE - $300
Performances Tuesday through Sunday, nightly at 8:15pm
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| Miranda (Sigrid Wise), Ferdinand (Zay Williams) and Prospero (Nancy Bell). Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography |
Cast
Prospero: Nancy Bell*
Alonso: Kathryn A. Bentley*
Antonio: Jeff Cummings*
Stephano: Michael Doherty*
Francisco: Harrison Farmer
Boatswain/Ensemble: Michael Grieve
Adrian: Crayton Haney
Ensemble/Percussion: Otto Klemp
Ariel: Eliza Pagelle*
Sebastian: Reginald Pierre*
Gonzalo: Whit Reichert*
Trinculo: José Sabillón*
Caliban: Chauncy Thomas*
Ferdinand: Zay Williams
Miranda: Sigrid Wise*
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| The cast and crew of The Tempest presented by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. Photo credit: Phillip Hamer Photography |
Crew
Scenic Design: Christopher Swader, Justin Swader
Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard
Lighting Design: Jeff Behm
Sound Design: Melanie Chen Cole
Movement Director: Paul Dennhardt
Props Designer: Katherine Stepanek
Production Stage Manager: Sarah Luedloff*
Assistant Stage Manager: Britteny Henry*
Assistant Director: Lize Lewy
Producer: Colin O’Brien
Production Company: Blank Slate
* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
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