The Tempest (Smoking Mirror Theatre Company)

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The Tempest by William Shakespeare is among the last of the plays attributed to him. It is a play loosely structured in the style of the Italian commedia dell’arte but with a much larger purpose than a comedy through improvisation. It is essentially a character study of the transformation of an angry man seeking revenge to a man finding an understanding of himself and offering forgiveness to those who wronged him. It was written at a time in English history when the Elizabethan royal court was ruled by political intrigue that often led to imprisonment, exile, execution, or murder. The themes in this tale involve greed, ambition, betrayal, revenge with, romance, understanding, and forgiveness bringing resolution.

In this adaptation, director John Gordon switches the gender of two characters, Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and Alonso, the king of Naples, intending to distinguish between the perception of male-dominated power dynamics and that from a female perspective. The problem with this approach is that the core of The Tempest as a character study is dependent only upon the protagonists’ gender from a more modern perspective; revenge and forgiveness are not the exclusive province of men. While it has an interesting approach, this is not a version of The Tempest that works well.

The story begins with a literal tempest caused by Prospera (Nancy Rich) with the help of Ariel (Bellamy Woodside Ridiger), a spirit creature under her control. The storm causes a ship with noble people from Milan and Naples to founder near the island that is the home of Prospera, former Duke of Milan, her daughter Miranda (Cam Gray), and Caliban (Coleman Shu-Tung), a half-human, half-beast offspring of the late witch Sycorax who had owned the island.

The noble people from the ship are the central characters in the drama that led Prospera and Miranda to be marooned on the island. Her brother, Antonio (Martin Challinor), is the Duke of Milan, having usurped the title. Alonsa (Alice Marks) is the queen of Naples who made a deal with Antonio to support him in return for a tribute paid each year to Naples. Two other important characters are Ferdinand (Jason Shlaman), prince of Naples, son of Alonsa, destined to be the love interest of Miranda, and Gonzalo (Tony Savage Thorn), a good-hearted noble of Naples who was a friend of Prospera and counselor to Alonsa. The treachery of Antonio intended that Prospera and Miranda would die when a leaky boat they were set adrift in was sunk in a storm. Gonzalo secretly provided them with clothing and books and ensured their boat made it to the island.

The other characters of note are Sebastian (Meg Gwyn), brother of Alonsa, and Adrian (Brian Mendoza), courtier to Alonsa. They plot to assassinate Alonsa to make Sebastian king of Naples. It is used as an example of the treacherous nature of siblings and mirrors the treachery enacted by Prospera’s brother Antonio. Ariel uncovers and thwarts the plot. The final two players of the story, Trinculo (Justin Bennett), the jester to Alonsa, and Stephano (Ronan Schwarz), the butler to Alonsa, are the ones intended to provide comic relief. Still, in the process, they reveal a different sort of treachery in their alliance with Caliban.

Prospera directs all the action. She is, in a sense, a puppet master who manipulates and guides the actions of all the other characters, with the possible exception of her daughter Miranda, a stabilizing element that enables Prospera to gain an understanding of her dark desire for revenge. She does not perceive Miranda as inferior to herself but as an extension. The shifts in her emotional state from one of revenge-filled rage to calm understanding is a function of, and interest in, the innocent, and at times, prescient observations of Miranda as she explores her feelings about the new characters introduced to her as a result of Prospera’s desire for revenge. When Ferdinand appears, having been separated from his mother and the other nobles, Miranda is immediately attracted to him, and he introduces romance into the story.

Each of the separate story elements reveals aspects of the people involved that are critical to understanding the transformation developing with Prospera. The dialogue exchanges between the characters are essential to understanding the play’s dramatic arc. The words spoken are more critical than any of the characters’ physical actions, and this production seriously misses the importance of the spoken text to the development of and, ultimately, the resolution of the play.

Although meaningful dialogue is written in iambic pentameter, not all text is so structured. There is a skill in delivering lines within the structure of iambic pentameter, but it is equally important that the rhythm of all the dialogue be consistent. The lines must be spoken as if they were a normal speech pattern without paying attention to the structure. Unfortunately, the delivery by the ensemble varies widely, ranging from sounding like a textual reading to a clear, direct delivery to one completely out of character for the words spoken. As a result, the interconnections between the elements of the story are lost, causing a breakdown in clarity.

Nancy Rich makes an effort to capture the substance of Prospera’s character, but her performance lacked a solid delivery of the essence of the character’s psychological transformation. Clay and Shlaman capture the core of their characters, while others in the ensemble give acceptable readings but miss establishing a solid connection with the overall dramatic arc.

In some cases, the physical actions of the performers distracted attention from the text. A jester is not the same as a clown, but Bennett plays the character as a buffoonish clown when a more subtle approach is called for. Shu-Tung has a tendency to overplay the brutish nature of Caliban, but the real problem with the character was the makeup and costuming. The character lacks a visual manifestation of a semi-human creature. His performance with a better physical characterization would have allowed for a stronger delivery.

In contrast to the issue with Caliban, Ridiger’s makeup and costume as Ariel provides visual cues to the character’s ethereal nature, giving strength to the idea that this was a spirit creature. Ridiger’s delivery of Ariel’s dialogue is solidly done in all his scenes, but in some cases, a more nuanced physical execution would have made the performance stronger.

The ensemble makes the most of the small venue. The show is performed with limited sets and minimal special effects. Eric Nightengale’s lighting design makes the best of the limited options presented by the performance space. Janet Holmes’s costuming helps define the characters with a few exceptions, the character of Caliban being one of those exceptions. Bellamy Woodside Ridiger’s choreography adds important movement elements to the story but needs more restraint during some of Ariel’s scenes.

The Tempest (September 15, 2024)

Smoking Mirror Theatre Company

Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at A.R.T/New York Theatres, 502 West 53^rd Street, in Manhattan.

For tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shakespeares-the-tempest-smoking-mirror-theater-company-nyc-tickets-943668948227?aff=oddtdtcreator

Running time: two hours and 30 minutes with one intermission