These days it seems few companies are willing
to produce a Shakespearean play without changing the Bard’s work
in some vital way. We’ve seen productions that cut or shift text,
change the sex of characters, and move the setting to different
times and places. So when a group like the Fort Greene-based
Kings County Shakespeare Company creates a solid, traditional
version of a Shakespearean work, it almost appears as an innovative,
even a courageous act.
Except for a few women in male roles, "The Tempest,"
now at Founder’s Hall at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights
is certainly a production Elizabeth I would recognize. In fact,
at the June 16 Father’s Day matinee, her Royal Highness – played
by Jennifer Jonanos – was indeed present to greet and chat with
the many children in the audience. The "queen" even
knighted Borough President Marty Markowitz, who was in attendance,
as "Sir Marty, Honorable Patron of the Arts," in consideration
of his support of Brooklyn’s cultural organizations.
This is the third time Deborah Wright Houston, artistic director
of the Kings County Shakespeare Company, has directed "The
Tempest." She first directed the play in the mid-’80s, then
in the mid-’90s at Prospect Park’s band shell.
"I love ’The Tempest,’" Houston told GO Brooklyn. "It
particularly speaks to me. I love the romances, and ’The Tempest’
is a romance."
But "The Tempest" is also "dark and light,"
says Houston. "It is very complex."
Indeed, Shakespeare’s final play is filled with images of mortality.
Prospero tells Ferdinand: " Then our actors/As I foretold
you, were all spirits, and/Are melted into air, into thin air/And,
like the baseless fabric of this vision/The cloud-capp’d towers,
the gorgeous palaces/The solemn temples, the great globe itself/Yea,
all which it inherit, shall dissolve/And, like this insubstantial
pageant faded/Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff/As dreams
are made on; and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep."
Although "The Tempest" is considered one of the most
personal of Shakespeare’s works (many have seen Prospero’s resignation
of magic as a reflection of Shakespeare’s own farewell to playwriting),
its plot is based on the much-publicized story of the passengers
aboard the Sea-Venture. In June 1609, the ship, on its way to
Virginia, ran ashore off the coast of the Bermudas during a storm;
the passengers miraculously survived and arrived at Jamestown
on small boats they’d constructed themselves.
In Shakespeare’s play, Prospero, a magician and philosopher,
lives on an enchanted island where he and his daughter, Miranda,
have found refuge after his brother, Antonio, aided by Alonso,
king of Naples, usurped his dukedom of Milan. Thanks to a book
on magic supplied by Gonzalo, an old counselor, Prospero was
able to free Ariel, an airy spirit whom the dead witch Sycorax
had imprisoned in a cloven pine; and attempt the education of
the witch’s son, Caliban, whom Prospero later made into a slave
after he tried to rape Prospero’s daughter.
Using his magic, Prospero calls up a tempest that shipwrecks
Alonso and his son Ferdinand and brother Sebastian, as well as
Antonio and Gonzalo on the island as they return from Tunis where
Alonso’s daughter Claribel has just wed the king. Ferdinand promptly
falls in love with Miranda. Sebastian and Antonio scheme against
Alonso. And Prospero, with the help of Ariel, attempts to right
the wrongs he has suffered.
In the Kings County Shakespeare Company’s production, Alonso
is Alonsa, Queen of Naples (Nayokah Marlyne Afflack); Gonzalo
is Gonzala (Lou Kylis); Sebastian is Sebastiana, sister to Alonsa
(Bev Lacy); and Trinculo is Trincula, a clown (Sabrina Yocono).
Joseph Hamel plays Antonio; Carrie Edel is a sweet and sympathetic
Miranda; Jovina Chan romps as Ariel; Achilles Vatrikas is a convincingly
disgusting Caliban; and Leo Bertelsen is a powerful Prospero.
Unlike Houston’s bandshell "Tempest," in which she
not only changed the sex of characters and the play’s setting,
but also introduced physically challenged actors, this "Tempest"
takes no further liberties with Shakespeare’s work.
Houston says that the gender changes in her productions reflect
the larger number of females in her company. But she also insists
that she only makes changes in light of the text "as I see
it," and these changes are consistent with her belief that
"if Shakespeare had been allowed to use women he would have."
"Because he had boy actors, and because it was a man’s world,
women figure very small. That’s why today some companies use
all-female casts. Certain plays lend themselves to gender changes,"
she says.
"Every era has reinvented Shakespeare. In the Victorian
era, they made happy endings. Romeo and Juliet kissed and made
up, and walked off into the sunset."
"The Tempest" marks the debut of the company’s Thespis
group, named after the Greek dramatist traditionally credited
with the invention of tragedy, and comprised mainly of young,
non-union Kings County Shakespeare talent who share the stage
with more seasoned performers.
For the most part, the production achieves a high level of professionalism.
Bertelsen is particularly well-suited to the role of Prospero.
He is thoughtful and passionate, and walks with dignity if not
exactly majesty. Vatrikas is a perfectly craven Caliban, whining,
wheedling, vicious and ridiculous. Yocono as the clown and Roger
Dale Stude as Stephano, a drunken sailor, provide a welcome dose
of physical humor.
But there’s still something not quite there about the production.
There’s plenty of Houston’s "dark," but not nearly
enough of the "light." "The Tempest" is not
only a romance; it is also a comedy. Too many in the cast are
so busy being evil they forget to be funny.
Shakespeare demands a certain energy of movement to complement
the poetry of his words. This production has all the poetry.
It could use a little more pep.
Kings County Shakespeare Company’s "The
Tempest" plays through June 30. Performances are Mondays
and Wednesday through Saturday at 8 pm, with Saturday and Sunday
matinees at 2 pm, at Founders Hall, St. Francis College, at 182
Remsen St. in Brooklyn Heights. Tickets are $12, $7 seniors and
children under 12. For tickets, call Smart Tix at (212) 206-1515
or visit www.smarttix.com.
On June 23, the production will host a book signing for "The
Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Shakespeare"
(Continuum) by Dick Riley and Pam McAllister. On June 29, there
will be a panel discussion on interpretations of "The Tempest"
with speakers from the faculty of St. Francis College. Call (718)
398-0546 for more information.
