The Tempest in the Arb

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep…”
Prospero

Brace yourselves, I’m about to gush…

I had never attended one of the Residential College productions in the Arboretum, too intimidated by the heat and bugs. But I broke out the Deep Woods Off, the lawn chair, and a picnic bag filled with goodies and went to see The Tempest with a friend.

What a delight! I am not exaggerating when I say that this performance had to be one of the most enjoyable theatrical experiences I’ve ever had!

The Tempest tells the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan (pronounced like “chillin” by the actors – perhaps correct for the Globe Theater, but distracting nonetheless) exiled to an island with daughter Miranda by his nefarious brother Antonio and Alonso, the King of Naples. Miranda has no memory of life before the island, which is also inhabited by a servant, Caliban, and a spirit creature called Ariel.

Prospero has spent his years in exile polishing up some pretty impressive wizarding skills, and calls forth a huge storm – the Tempest of the title – to wreck the ship carrying his enemies, his brother and the king. The ship also happens to carry young Ferdinand, son of the king. Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love the minute they lock eyes upon one another – very Shakespearean.

The entire play takes place on Prospero’s island, and it’s very easy to imagine the Arb as that locale. Honestly, the setting is the star of the performance. We were certain this creaky looking old branch would crash. He was one of the “Ariels,” the spirit portrayed collectively by over half a dozen young actors dressed as woodland sprites. They spent a good deal of time lurking behind bushes and up in trees making “spritely” noises. My friend and I kept worrying for their sake about poison ivy.

At the end of each act, audience members would gather themselves and troop off to another glade. Not only was the natural setting gloriously beautiful, it was very intimate. In some scenes, I could have reached out and touched the velour of a doublet! And the cast was also very jolly in the way they incorporated intrusions by the modern world into the story. Whenever a train or plane could be heard in the distance, actors would tense and move as if to draw their swords. You’d have thought this would get old after the second or third time, but I was tickled.

With very few props, costumes offered more than the usual diversion – the character of Trinculo, one of the crew from the shipwreck, had his pantaloons fall down about halfway through one scene. You could tell the entire audience was wondering if he realized what had happened. Thankfully he was wearing purple tights. Undergarments, or lack thereof, were also an issue with one of the female Ariels – she was quite obviously not wearing a bra, and as she ran by at a full gallop we feared she might fall out of HER costume. And the actor playing Caliban, who appeared to be channeling the Golem from The Lord of the Rings, seemed to be frightening the children in the audience.

The Tempest benefited from a fine performance by Martin Walsh as Prospero, bringing the right mix of gravitas and sardonic humor to the wizard. And as Shakespeare’s shortest play, I found I didn’t glance at my watch once – in fact, I’d be glad to visit Prospero’s island again, provided it’s in the Arb.