from the director:
The Tempest is not your typical Shakespearean play. It is one of two Shakespearean plays (along with Comedy of Errors) which follow the Neoclassical three unities of time, place and action. It is a romance, rather than comedy. In truth, it is the Bard’s only completely original work. Written in 1610-11, The Tempest marked a point of closure for Shakespeare. Though he would go on to write(or co-write with John Fletcher) three more plays after The Tempest, so much of the play seems a final bow for Shakespeare and it is often considered his last true piece. Many scholars see Prospero as Shakespeare himself, finally releasing his art after one final grand display. While the theatre was always a theme in his work, Shakespeare repeatedly returns to theatrical imagery in Tempest; Prospero even go as so far as to explain, “Our revels now are ended. These our actors...were spirits and are all melted into air.”
This Tempest is not your typical Tempest, for there is no “typical” Tempest. Over the years, we’ve seen missing link Calibans, post-colonial readings, feminist reinterpretations—event he Arctic Circle setting of The Royal Shakespeare Company’s most recent venture. We’ve seen Ariel seduce, subjugate, sub serve, and even spit upon Prospero. The play is remarkably complex and nuanced. In our production, we attempt to restore a sense of wonder and magic, but counterpoint it with the very human sense of family. Prospero is a mage, but he is foremost a father. Caliban is a creature, but he is also the adopted son who has disappointed. Sibling rivalries abound. Friends fight and reconcile. We hope you’ll see yourselves in this, our “brave new world that has such people in’t.”
Jason Zanitsch
Special thanks to:
Kristy Cyone, Jo and Charles Dumas, Beth Lee, Chris, Nancy and Gordon Shedd, John and Sue Riddiford, Ron Woodhead, Kelly Thom, Margaret, Jessica and John Cieply Kathy Morrow, Laura Snyder, Chad Herzog, Kathy Davies, Mike Desmond, John Guss, David and Sandy Corneal, Kim Flick, Erika Isler, Webster’s Cafes, Sovereign Bank, The State Theatre, Flybynite Costumes, Next Stage Theatre Company, Pants on the Fire Theatre Company, Town and Gown, State College Magazine, Centre Daily Times, The Daily Collegian, Mark “Tex” Gorley, woodworker extraordinaire, for “the staff”, St. Vincent de Paul volunteers, The good people at Goodwill, Becky McCloskey, artist extraordinaire, for her fabric donations