The Joys of The Tempest at California Shakespeare Theater

Erika Chong Shuch as Ariel in The Tempest trunk

Photo by Kevin Berne

California Shakespeare Theater has just opened a somewhat whimsical outdoor production of the Bard’s mystical play The Tempest. The company relates this tale of anger and redemption in an amphitheater with an open stage nestled in a hilly, wooded valley. Director Jonathan Moscone has added some clever updating and some surprising turns. Many cast members are San Francisco Bay Area performers, and television actor Michael Winters from Seattle Washington joins.

Moscone’s conception cuts across centuries with modernization and anachronisms which do not detract from Shakespeare’s story of Prospero, the deposed duke of Milan. In an indeterminate age amidst a setting of ship wreckage, piled books, scattered trunks, and a mystical two-door cabinet leading to another world, Prospero works his magic until it sets him free at the end. As the golden hillside behind the stage fades into darkness with the sight of deer gamboling or cows grazing, the lights come up to add color and drama.

The Characters

Michael Winters portrays the magician of the enchanted island as avuncular and still a little bit out of his element after seven years of isolation. Yet he is driven enough to bring his supposed enemies to his shores by ship wreck. Winters gives Prospero a simmering undercurrent of rage.

Moscone’s use of double casting among the thirteen-member cast, not unusual in productions of this Sixteenth Century play, has Winters also portraying Stefano, a tippling butler, separately marooned on the isle. When Winters falls into this role, his character readily changes to the buffoonery of a comic foil complete with a squirting lapel flower and other drunken antics.

Prospero’s magic qualities come from Ariel, the spirit he rescued, played by Bay Area dancer Erica Chong Shuch, who also choreographed the show. Ariel is an ethereal being, able to transport herself on the vapors and to foment storms at sea. Shuch wields her powers gracefully and shows a secure sense of command. She also takes the part of the Boatswain who warns of sea storms at the beginning and end.

Erica’s design intimately involves three Sprites (Melanie Elms, Aaron Moreland and Travis Santell Rowland) black-clad modern dancers who fluidly lift and fly Ariel around the stage. The effect is far superior to the use of harnesses and overhead wires. The ninja-colored dancers also help with vestments and set changes. Supporting Ariel, they disappear in darkness while she in a head-to-toe cloak obeys Prospero’s commands and pleads for her freedom.

Prospero directs Ariel to bring his enemies to shore so he can confront them with the wrongs he has been dealt back in Italy. When he summons Ariel to do his bidding, she enters through the opening doors of a large, leaning cabinet, revealing a wooded peaceful scene with hanging vines. She occasionally returns to her bosky dell, but faithfully returns upon Prospero’s call.

Erica’s choreography is artfully arranged and her movements as Ariel are sometimes abruptly explosive. Her mystical gestures are intriguing and forceful. When she sings “Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies” she uses a well-modulated mezzo-soprano voice. Erica stays faithfully dedicated to her part. Her movements flow descriptively within the context of the play.

The Sprites also fly Prospero’s daughter Miranda, played by Emily Kitchens with wide-eyed wonder and eager anticipation. Emily looks clueless and affects a clumsy, little-girlish stance, perhaps deliberately, but all is made whole when Prospero gives her in marriage to Ferdinand (Nicholas Pelczar, who also plays Trinculo). This marks the beginning of the end of Prospero’s magic.

The Magic of the Production

The texture of the production has a weave of unlikely associations. The ensemble that portrays the boat crew during a storm is dressed in yellow vinyl slickers (costume designer Anna Oliver.) The set which is somewhere between a shipwreck and a study is flanked by a partition with a musician and a microphone stand. When Ferdinand finds the snoozing monster Caliban (played by Catherine Castellanos, who also plays Antonio, Prospero’s foolish brother) and launches into the “strange bedfellows” monologue, he is appalled by the smell as being “not the newest tilapia.” The mention of twenty dollars and the use of a phone further muddle the period of the action. The repeated command to Trinculo to stand farther off is perhaps overdone, especially when he gets a joy buzzer handshake.

In the end Prospero’s magic fails. A Sprite wheels on the ghost light, a theatrical custom that brings a bare bulb to illuminate the stage when actors and crew have left. Prospero’s enchantment cannot turn off the light, so he has to walk begrudgingly to the lamp and use the switch to end the play.

There are certain subtle hints at themes running through the production, especially in the stage setting. Winters seems too involved with his Prospero character, to the effect that he sometimes neglects line emphasis. The pace of the show is lively with no dead spots. The scenery is intriguing and the acting is involving. The show is two hours long, but with Moscone’s lengthy intro and fundraising, count on more than two. And dress warmly.

How to Get There

Cal Shakes makes the Amphitheater easy to get to. It is in the small city of Orinda California. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stops there, and Cal Shakes provides a free shuttle to and from the station to the play. There are picnic grounds of a rustic nature. If you do not get there really early, you wind up sitting on a log, which is aesthetically pleasing under the towering grove of eucalyptus trees. Cal Shakes has just completed the installation of solar panels to provide electricity for lights and facilities. The bar area has a good selection of snacks and quality California wines for a reasonable price.

Seating is in outdoor chairs on tiers with gravel underfoot. A lighting grid surrounds the Amphitheater, with two light towers on stage. BYOB and camaraderie abounds. Cal Shakes always manages to attract some of the finest talent around, and their setting of Shakespeare on a wooded evening makes it even more charming.

William Shakespeare’s The Tempest plays through June 24 at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda California. Tickets ($43 to $48) are available online at http://www.calshakes.org/v4/tickets/index.html or by phone at 510.548.9666.
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