warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

'The Tempest' At A Noise Within Takes Its Audiences By Storm

Ryan David McRee |
September 15, 2014 | 11:48 a.m. PDT

Contributor

Deborah Strang as Prospero. Photo by Craig Schwartz
Deborah Strang as Prospero. Photo by Craig Schwartz

The first moment of A Noise Within’s production of William Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" is a spectacle that only the magic of a live theatrical performance could capture. Encapsulating in a brief moment the true essence of the show—Prospero’s enormous robe, billowing into a storm-tossed sea with a straggling vessel desperately clawing its way to survival. Relying on ethereal sound and lighting effects and simple, yet elegant visual choreography to create the setting, this introduction serves as a thesis for the design choices, and makes a promise for the inspired staging to come.

"The Tempest," believed to be Shakespeare’s last play written sans collaboration, begins twelve years after the stranding of Prospero (Deborah Strang), magician and former ruler of Milan, on a deserted island with her daughter, Miranda (Alison Elliott). Prospero, using her magic powers and the aid of Ariel (Kimberleigh Aarn), a bound spirit, conjures a storm to shipwreck Alonso (Stephen Rockwell), King of Naples, and his company on the island. With Alonso is Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio (Time Winters), who usurped her position as ruler of Milan and arranged with Alonso her own shipwreck years earlier. The narrative splits from here, following Prospero’s plans to punish her usurpers, a budding romance between Miranda and Ferdinand (Paul David Story), Alonso’s son, a plot conceived by the monster Caliban to kill and overthrow Prospero, and yet another plot hatched by Antonio to kill Alonso and put Alonso’s brother, Sebastian (Rafael Goldstein), on the throne. Themes of usurpation, treachery, love and the challenges of compassion emerge as, like in any great Shakespearean play, the different stories of the separated islanders converge into one.

SEE ALSO: Theater Review: 'Tartuffe' At A Noise Within

Highlights of the ensemble include Geoff Elliott’s Caliban, who inspires pity in spite of his treacherous hatred for Prospero. Angela Balogh Calin’s costume design complements Elliott’s transformative physicality to create a truly believable humanoid sea creature straight from myth. Another highlight is Time Winters’s Antonio, a despicable villain, majestic even in the midst of his treasonous manipulation of Sebastian. The cast is brilliantly directed by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, whose intuitive staging presents clear communication of character identity and subtext.

Perhaps the most effective of the design elements are the sound and lighting design, upon which the production nearly solely relies in the creation of the mystical world of Prospero’s island. Peter Bayne’s sound design is the only production element required to create the illusion of Prospero’s magic, the daunting effects inspiring fear and reverence of Prospero’s awesome abilities. The sound design makes the island a living creature, a conduit through which Prospero’s rage is actualized. Ken Booth’s lighting design communicates the otherworldliness of the island and gives the drama onstage a somewhat melancholy, moving undertone.

The theme of A Noise Within’s 2014-15 season is revolution, and "The Tempest" certainly illustrates this theme, not only with the Bard’s masterfully written text but also with the company’s dedication to engaging theatre-making. Prospero may give up his magic in an iconic moment of great scholarly significance, but this production reassures that the magic of storytelling on stage will never disappear.

"The Tempest" is playing through November 22 at A Noise Within (3352 E Foothill Blvd). Tickets are $20-$40. For more information, visit www.ANoiseWithin.org.

Reach Contributor Ryan David McRee here.

For more Theater & Dance coverage click here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.