Through Sun 8/7
We went to see Cleveland Shakespeare Festival’s The Tempest on Fri 7/22. As the play begins, we see a ship caught in a storm or rather, we see a ship’s wheel attended by Leonard Goff as the Boatswain. Commands are shouted. Sounds of wind and rain come over the speakers. The cast sways in unison as if on a storm-tossed ship.
Standing on a small riser to one side, Mary-Francis Miller in a red dress as Ariel holds a model ship riding the waves. Behind and above it all stands Tyson Douglas Rand as the magician Prospero in an attitude of control. And then Jonathan McCleery as the honest old counselor, Gonzalo, cries,
“We split, we split! Farewell, my wife and children!
Farewell, brother! We split, we split, we split!”
A ship lost at sea on the parched grass of our neighborhood park, thanks to Shakespeare’s words, a few very low-budget theatrical effects, and some actors.
Even if you don’t already know the play, CSF has ways of making everything super clear, as when Prospero explains to his daughter Miranda how he was robbed of his dukedom and the villains rise from among the shipwrecked survivors to the sound of ominous organ chords.
They’re an evil, opportunistic pair, Keith Kornajcik as Antonio and CK Steele as Sebastian, and Shakespeare wastes no time showing us just how evil they are. They’ve already drawn their “obedient steel, three inches of it” — in this production a pair of nasty-looking automatic pistols — to assassinate the sleeping King of Naples and Gonzalo when Ariel arrives to foil them.
Prospero wants his dukedom back, but that’s hardly the sustaining conflict of the play, for it’s never in doubt that his and Ariel’s magic can overcome the villains and achieve that goal. Fortunately, Shakespeare has also populated the island with ardent lovers, drunken clowns, and a pair of mega issues.
Fortunately, CSF’s actors sport the necessary skills to capitalize on their opportunities.
Hillary Wheelock as Miranda and Beau Reinker as Ferdinand, the lovers, fall convincingly in love at first sight. Shakespeare gives them some lines to fawn over each other with but in this production faces alone could suffice, for these two apparently cannot take their eyes off of each other, cannot help but smile as they converse. Wheelock’s voice has an attractive husky edge to it and Reinker projects a boyish, gee-whiz sweetness. Both seem perfect for their roles.
Allen Branstein and Craig A. Webb play it big and loud as the clowns, to excellent effect. Short, rotund Branstein successfully channels a number of funny men, including John Belushi. Tall, pompous Webb in his too-tight butler costume sets forth one grandiose scheme after another only to be foiled by Ariel.
The Tempest presents two mega issues, both of which require Prospero to do the right thing by the end of the play. One is Prospero’s renunciation of magic. The other is Ariel’s freedom.
For Shakespeare’s 17th century audiences, it’s absolutely essential that Prospero keep his vow to renounce magic:
“I’ll break my staff, / Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound / I’ll drown my book.”
Otherwise, Prospero might well end like Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, carried into hell by devils in a climactic scene that can still raise the hairs of modern atheists.
Say what you will about avoiding political interpretations of Shakespeare, Ariel’s repeated requests for freedom cannot help but resonate, especially when Ariel is cast as an African-American, as she is here. And especially when none of Ariel’s repeated requests for freedom have been edited out. And most especially when one of the final images of this production is of Ariel, happy to be free at last.
Cleveland Shakespeare Festival comes to a venue near you with The Tempest through Sun 8/7. For this summer’s complete touring calendar go to cleveshakes. All performance are at 7pm and are presented free. Please bring your own chair or blanket.
[Written by Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas]