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Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Day 322 Pittsburgh Public Theater- Shakespeare’s The Tempest- The Modern and Fantasy Worlds Collide

  
The Tempest, thought to be one of Shakespeare’s last plays, is the tapestry for Pittsburgh Public Theater’s new Artistic Director, Marya Sea Kaminski’s  directorial debut. With an all-female cast and injecting a modern battle with breast cancer, Kaminski gives this 1600’s tale of  Prospero’s journey on a magical island  a new facelift.  Although I subscribe to the group that is not “Shakespeare savvy”, I was excited to experience Kaminski’s inventive collision of the modern world with the magical world in Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest.



Reflection
Experiencing Shakespeare live elevates ones appreciation of his masterful poetic story telling. This contemporary interpretation of The Tempest (a play written with waves of  drama and comedy), adds a strong female cast, trimmed text, and a towering mountainous  set with an array of special effects. This version converted this timid Shakespearean spectator into a new fan.  


The Tempest  opens quietly  in a Pittsburgh oncology unit as Prospero played by  Tamara Tunie (best known for role on the TV show Law and Order: SUV)  battles her disease. Emotions of pain, frustration,  and anger with her family, are expressed in silence through Tunie’s facial expressions as her doctor, nurse, a resident, an orderly and family, pass through her room.  

During  Prospero’s dream, the Shakespearean story begins. The set rotates as she walks through the window entering the mystical world.  Transformed, Prospero has magical powers and lives on an island with her  daughter, Miranda (Kerry Warren), the nymph, Arial (Janelle Velasque ) and an enslaved creature, Caliban (Shammen McCune).  It reminded me of The Wizard of Oz  when Dorothy's house was uprooted from Kansas and crashed in the Land of  Oz. Dorothy's family and friends, like the hospital personnel, are the characters  in both enchanted worlds.  

Tamara Tunie as Prospero *

 Tunie as Prospero commands the stage as a powerful strong magician summoning  a feverish storm. She shipwrecks  her enemies- sister, Tonio (Rami Margron) and Queen Alonso (Deena Aziz), who stole her dukedom.  The Queen’s son, Ferdinand (Rad Pereira), the Queen’s sister, Sebastian (Arayana Sedarati), advisor, Gonzalo (Laurie Klatscher) drunk servant, Stephano (Bethany Caputo) and clown, Trinculo (Jamie Agnello) are all washed ashore after the storm.  


Ahmmen McCune as Caliban, Bethany Caputo as Stephano and Jamie Agnello as Trinculo *

The Tempest gives us a vengeful Prospero  whose journey ends in forgiveness. Along this journey, the show has a little romance and love connection between Miranda and Ferdinand. A lot of humor from the brilliant  timing and  physical comedy  of  Stephano the drunk, Trinculo the clown, and Caliban the creature. The Pittsburgh Youth Choir as island spirits adds an eerie backdrop during the storm. The nymph, Arial with her side kicks, adds a fun singing  girl group number to the show.


My friend turned to me and said, “I loved it even if I did not understand it all.” Kaminski’s direction brilliantly intersects the present world with this classic play.  Even if you’re not an avid Shakespearean  fan, you will be wowed with  it’s creatively and modern facelift.  Prospero’s battle whether on the mystical island or in the hospital room reminds us that ultimate peace and freedom are found through acceptance and forgiveness, not by anger and revenge.  

* photo by Michael Henninger

(PPT's  The Tempest runs from  January 24 through  February 24, 2019 at the O'Reilly Theater. For tickets go to ppt.org.)

Spiritual Source
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just a Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

 Other Source
ppt.org