Shakespeare and Company, Lenox, MA
through September 3, 2017
by Rebecca Phelps
Hats off to Shakespeare and Company as they continue to hold
to their mission of bringing fine theatre to the Berkshires and of making
Shakespeare authentic, yet accessible to modern audiences for over the past 40
years. And congratulations to Allyn Burrows, overall artistic director of
Shakespeare and Company, and director of this fanciful production.
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Photo by Olivia Winslow
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The story of “The Tempest” takes place on an unnamed,
uninhabited island. Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and now its master,
uses magic to create the storm that ship-wrecks his usurping brother and his
entourage. They are washed up on the island; thus begins the plot of Prospero’s
revenge. Treachery, comedy and romance ensue as these characters meet
surprises, challenges, strange spells and forms of magic, always under the
ever-watchful Prospero’s control.
Nigel Gore, a veteran actor of this company, brings urgency
and power to the role of the lead character. Gore controls the elements, the
spirits, the plot – the entire stage, as he depicts this many faceted
individual: sorcerer, father, tyrant, match-maker, avenger and redeemer.
Ella Loudon’s Miranda is a feisty daughter, bringing a fresh
interpretation to a character often portrayed as subservient to her all
powerful father. Not Ella Loudon. Her earthy Miranda stands up to both her
father and the monstrous Caliban. She meets her newly found lover Ferdinand
(Deaon Griffin-Pressley) directly, frontally and without guile or shrinking.
Jason Asprey brings a riveting blend of brutishness and
sensitivity to the abused/abusive Caliban, who serves Prospero as “a savage and
deformed slave” and whose mother was the witch Sycorax. Asprey portrays
menacing, disgusting, pitiful, and poetic and always captivating.
The actors in Shakespeare and Company always provide
animated, full-throttle
performances filled with athleticism and well defined characters. The
antics of Trinculo as played by Bella Merlin, and Stephano as played by Mark
Zeisler, provide just the right amount of hilarity to this magical, mystical
tale.
On the night we saw the show the clouds threatened rain, but
the company was prepared, and so the first act was performed in The Rose
Footprint Theatre. Luckily the weather improved over the course of the evening,
and we were treated to a second act performed as in the round, with its full
production values, including a huge white spirit hung from far above the
garden, an inventive system of sound effects and a tree from which the agile
and ever illusive Ariel appeared. The final magical touch of the evening was a
rainbow, which appeared overhead during the wedding scene – as if on cue!
Allyn Burrows and the company of actors at Shakespeare and
Company make good use of “The Tempest’s” magic in every way – set, costumes,
special effects and performances. A thoroughly entertaining and bewitching
evening, and a perfect way to leave earthly cares and concerns behind.
