This weekend Allie, Steve, mom and I went down to Cedar City for the Fall Shakespearean Festival. We only saw one play this time since there was only one Shakespeare play this time. However, the play was definitely worth the drive.
The play is about a man named Duke Prospero and his daughter Miranda that have been banished to an island. Prospero has found a magical power on the island, along with magical creatures that serve him. When his brother's ship is passing the island, Prospero has his magical fairy, Ariel, have the ship crash onto the island.
Prospero brings the voyagers safely ashore and scatters them in groups about the island. Ariel, at Prospero’s bidding, leads Ferdinand to the cave of Prospero—and Miranda, who does not remember ever having seen any other man than her father, immediately is smitten with the prince.
On another part of the island, Alonso, his brother Sebastian, Antonio, and others wander sadly, convinced that the young Prince Ferdinand is dead. All but Sebastian and Antonio are lulled to sleep by Ariel, but these two remain awake to plot the death of the sleeping king and their taking over of his kingdom. They might have succeeded if Ariel hadn't awakened the intended victim just in time.
On a third isolated part of the island, Trinculo, the king’s jester, is reeling drunk. He encounters Caliban, and they are soon joined by the butler, Stephano, who so delights Caliban with “moon-liquor” that Caliban swears to follow him forever. The three then make their own drunken plot to break free, through force, of their various masters, but Ariel, who has heard every word, tells his master.
Meanwhile Miranda and Ferdinand have exchanged vows of love, and Prospero, who is now convinced of their true love, blesses their engagement. While the lovers are conversing, Prospero and Ariel mock the king’s court with a lavish banquet which vanishes as soon as they try to eat. They then rebuke them for their crimes against “good Prospero . . . and his innocent child.”
The best performance was done by Ariel, who was played by Michael Brusasco. He's the actor that I was raving about last year and actually met after one of the performances. He did really, really well. He had the coolest costumes, the best magical effects, the best facial expressions and acting all around. Not to say that other people didn't do a good job. The entire play was done really well, and I would recommend it to anyone in the family that would want to go see it.
(Pictures by the Utah Shakespearean Festival http://www.infowest.com/personal/b/bakerhouse/shakespeare.html and the Synopsis is from http://www.bard.org/education/resources/shakespeare/tempestsyn.html)
1 comment:
There were parts of this play that were so funny, I laughed my head off. (You can see that there's nothing left of it, can't you?) I enjoyed the acting. Everyone seemed to put their whole heart and soul into it. It was also thought-provoking in that it made me wonder whether turning the other cheek and forgiving those who have wronged you can really have the kind of effect in the world that it had in this play. Can it possibly work when so many groups are convinced that they are the only ones who have the truth, and where grudges are carried on for generation after generation? I had a great time and enjoyed spending time with Allison and Steve. It rained cats and dogs on Saturday and we didn't get to take our usual pictures or do our usual walk on campus, but it was still fun to sit at Lighthouse Coffee and talk. Thanks, Allison, for planning such a fun trip again.
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