Baker Shake's Tempest is stormin' good

By Brian Reinhart     3/19/09 7:00pm

Last year, Baker College's annual Shakespeare production presented one of the Bard's bleakest plays, Richard III, a violent story of scheming and self-destruction. For Baker Shake's 2009 presentation, the troupe demonstrates its versatility by turning to The Tempest, a light-hearted adventure that features spontaneous dancing, mischievous fairies and a whimsical love story. Fortunately, this show is just as great a success as last year's. The Tempest is, from beginning to end, a total delight.As always, William Shakespeare has constructed a complex plot to keep the audience on its toes. In The Tempest, the rightful Duke of Milan, Prospero (J. Cameron Cooper, Brown '02), has been usurped by his cunning brother, Antonio (Martel College senior Robert Anderson), and exiled to an enchanted island in the middle of the Atlantic. There he lords over a realm of magical spirits and raises his daughter Miranda (Wiess College freshman Margay Dean), preparing to exact revenge on Antonio.

One day when Antonio and his political allies are sailing past the island, Prospero raises up a mighty storm and wrecks the ship, ensuring that all passengers wash up on the isle's shores. It would take too long to explain the events which follow, but, to make a long story short, Prospero arranges for handsome young Ferdinand (Baker College sophomore Tomas Lafferriere) to marry his daughter, staves off two murder plots and forgives his brother Antonio. The dramatic narrative is punctuated by several hilarious subplots, along with the dancing and singing of the spirits under Prospero's control.

Fortunately the Baker production, rather than making a mess of the play's wayward storylines, creates an immensely satisfying result. Director Joseph Lockett (Hanszen '91) has helmed five previous Baker Shake plays, and his experience shows. Transitions between scenes are so flawlessly executed that the play flies by as if it is a dream, and the set design by Lockett and Baker junior David Meyer is at once spare and resourceful. The direction provides careful insight into Prospero's complex nature, since this seemingly kind old magician uses his powers to menace those around him and even keeps a slave, the half-man, half-beast Caliban (Baker junior Will Parell).

---

---

What makes this production especially rewarding is that almost the entire cast has a strong understanding of the nature of Shakespearean speech. Too many other stagings offer actors who believe that a British accent is an acceptable substitute for a strong vocal presence, but this Tempest happily avoids the silly accents.

Instead its performers speak with the kind of clarity and diction that makes the audience feel as if not a year has passed since Shakespeare wrote these lines. There are a couple exceptions among the minor roles, and in their first scene together Prospero and Miranda have a tendency to rush their dialogue, apparently under the impression that talking quickly is the only way to keep the audience's interest. Luckily they both show considerable improvement as the play progresses.

Unlike last year's staging of Richard III, The Tempest features an exceptionally strong supporting cast. Parell is a fiery, furious Caliban whose occasional manic outbursts remind us of the deformed fellow's dubious humanity. Anderson, as Antonio, is a delightfully wicked schemer, and Will Rice College freshman Hannah Thalenberg brings a zany chattiness to the comic role of overly-talkative adviser Gonzalo, though her speech can sometimes become a touch too hurried. Lafferriere is especially affecting in the more serious role of Miranda's lover Ferdinand, and Bryce Eakin (Brown '08) brings a surprising melancholy to the role of Alonso, Antonio's main political ally.

But the real scene-stealers are Baker seniors Cat Coombes, as the magical spirit Ariel, who taunts and teases Prospero's old enemies with hilarious abandon, and Barron Stone, as Stephano, a raging drunk who arrives on the island in a stupor and somehow convinces Caliban to worship him. Stephano has arguably the most imposing presence in the play, but this could be because he is unintentionally contrasted with his drinking buddy Trinculo (Brown College sophomore Jane Labyer), who is much too timid and indeed appears completely sober.

"This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on," Alonso muses in the play's final act, as we watch every thread of the perplexing plot neatly resolve itself before our eyes. And The Tempest is indeed full of strange sights: The characters include magical spirits, a chatterbox sage and a hyperactive man-beast, to name but a few. But the spectacular world of this mysterious island is brought vividly to life before our eyes, and for that reason, The Tempest and all its quirks are quite a joy.

---