Often, it’s pretty hit-or-miss with a Shakespearian play. The plot is never anything vastly surprising, especially in the highly formulaic genres of comedy and tragedy. Either you’re going to have a high body count or a wedding by the end, and it’s little surprise after the first five minutes of the play. If you can follow the use of language, there are always some clever word plays and quips, but a lot of it depends on delivery.
The Tempest, the most recent of The Player’s productions, is one of those where people get married at the end. Going into the theater I knew to expect a somewhat lighter air overall. Beyond that, I wasn’t really sure.
I will be honest—when I decided to see this play, I made a mental note that it was only a college attempt at Shake-speare, and an RPI attempt at that. I didn’t expect it to dazzle me. I’m not even sure I expected the lines to be delivered with any real emotion.
However, I will say that within the first 10 seconds of the performance, I could tell that my expectations were too low for the performance I was about to watch. The play opens with some very dramatic special effects, courtesy of a tempest. The storm was simulated with some impressive lighting, and the high-energy cast running about on the deck of some ship really did a great job.
The cast presented a rather impressive command of the Shakes-pearian tongue, breathing real life into the show. There were one or two moments where it seemed members of the cast had a rote memorization of how to deliver the lines, but in general I thought the fact that everyone made it seem like they spoke that way every day was well worth noting.
Standing out a little bit above the rest was Robert Pruyn-Bush, who played Ariel. Typically, I think of Ariel as a female, but he put on such a believable performance that I didn’t even notice. He had a very natural energy that he brought to the role of a flighty spirit. Ariel very easily stole the focus of the play in several scenes just because of his command of the stage.
Beyond that outstanding performance the rest of the cast put in wonderful performances. Of particular note are Erik Nelson as Sebastian, Julie Brooks as Miranda, and Monal Pathak as Caliban, although the entire cast preformed well.
While the acting is well worth noting, I wouldn’t be doing the performance justice if I didn’t mention the technical aspects. The sets, while a little crude in appearance, were very cleverly done. Also worth mentioning, the lighting was done incredibly well throughout the entire performance.
Overall, I would say that this performance is definitely worth going to see, especially for Shakespeare buffs or for a date. The play will be running this weekend at 8 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. For more information call 276-6503.
