{"id":244375,"date":"2011-06-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/the-tempest\/"},"modified":"2011-06-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-27T07:00:00","slug":"the-tempest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/the-tempest\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Tempest\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cThe<\/a>
Ben Diskant as Ariel in \u201cThe Temptest\u201d by William Shakespeare, directed by Adrian Noble, at The Old Globe June 5-Sept. 25, 2011 (Photo by Henry DiRocco)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A human, yet magical story<\/p>\n

By Patricia Morris Buckley |<\/strong> Cr\u00edtico de Teatro SDUN<\/p>\n

Last summer, \u201cKing Lear,\u201d at the Old Globe, held a moment so completely magical and breathtaking it is most likely seared into the memory of anyone who saw it: Lear and his fool wandered in a snowstorm, complete with blinding flurries, pounding winds and lightning flashes.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the rest of the show didn\u2019t quite live up to that spectacular image, but luckily the same can\u2019t be said of the Old Globe\u2019s \u201cThe Tempest,\u201d an excellent, magical production, chock full of such stunningly emotive visuals.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, it\u2019s actor Miles Anderson\u2019s choice to ground his character in reality that makes these magical moments so captivating. Anderson, who gave us one of the best performances in years as the title character in the Globe\u2019s \u201cThe Madness of King George,\u201d is Prospero, the outcast Duke of Milan, who has been trapped on a Mediterranean island with his young daughter. Soon after arriving he discovers Ariel, a powerful spirit imprisoned in a tree and releases him to be his magical servant.<\/p>\n

Prospero commands Ariel to shipwreck the king of Naples and his court, including Prospero\u2019s back-stabbing brother, Antonio. Together, Ariel and Prospero right old wrongs and create a stronger future for most everyone.<\/p>\n

Many productions portray Prospero as a powerful, majestic magician, but Anderson chooses to play him as a wise man whose book learning gives him enough knowledge to harness the island\u2019s magic and bend it to his will. He displays a vulnerability that makes his anger at his brother\u2019s betrayal and dismay over his circumstances easy to understand and deepens our compassion for the character instead of making Prospero into a Dumbledore of theater. Our heightened engagement makes the magical elements seem all the more mystical with Prospero sharing mere mortal reality.<\/p>\n

Director Adrian Noble (who also created that amazing moment in \u201cKing Lear\u201d) used many theatrical techniques to enhance the island\u2019s mystery. Ariel, for instance, wears his blue- tinged hair straight up and is draped in a genie-like skirt. Sometimes he\u2019s also on stilts, while at others he appears with awe-inspiring wings (backlit with red light so his outline appears to be on fire). Ethereal puppets create entertainment for two characters, and a huge blue cloth serves as a ship\u2019s mask, the waves of an ocean, the bed linens for sleeping royalty and other eye-pleasing images. Impressive lighting by Alan Burrett, who uses light to paint the stage, further heightens these special effects.<\/p>\n

Another star of the production is the original music by Shaun Davey, which is both other-worldly and hummable. His tunes go far in adding more texture and feeling to the production. Deidre Clancy\u2019s costumes are mostly plain, but not simple, with interesting cuts and fits. Since one\u2019s eye is not distracted by gaudy fashions, the vivid images are even more arresting.<\/p>\n

Anderson\u2019s Prospero is heartbreaking, while Ben Diskant\u2019s performance as Ariel is truly gossamer. There\u2019s a beautiful moment they share that shows how much they really care for each other. Jonno Roberts\u2019 monster Caliban is delightfully ruthless and evil, and Kevin Alan Daniels and Winslow Corbett make such enthusiastic and cute lovers that it\u2019s exciting to see they will once again play opposite each other in \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian Noble has mounted a production of \u201cThe Tempest\u201d that is a feast for all the senses as well as a human story with magical elements. It\u2019s the perfect kick-off for the Old Globe\u2019s summer season.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A human, yet magical story By Patricia Morris Buckley | SDUN Theater Critic Last summer, \u201cKing Lear,\u201d at the Old Globe, held a moment so completely magical and breathtaking it is most likely seared into the memory of anyone who saw it: Lear and his fool wandered in a snowstorm, complete with blinding flurries, pounding […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u201cThe Tempest\u201d","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}