The Tempest

[Cayley Smith]

I loved The Tempest! It was so funny. The actors did an amazing job, and the interpretaton was a perfect mix between contemporary and classical. I had read The Tempest before, and had actually considered it my least favorite Shakespeare play, but this production completley changed my mind! The song was definitley awesome, as was the fact that it was outdoors. That just added to the greatness of the play. It was also the perfect accentuation to Dr. Clerici's lecture. I really loved it.

[Clair]

I agree, I thought the play was spectacular. I also think this morning's discussion session may have helped me clarify my views on performing Shakespeare. As paradoxical as it may seem. I think that performing an interpretation of The Tempest instead of a completely faithful copy of the original is the best way to allow modern audiences to experience what historical audiences felt. There will always be purists but, seeing as perfect duplication is impossible and current times have changed the nature of the audience, actors, and stage, adapting it seems to be the only logical way to preserve both its appeal and its effect. What we saw the other night may not have been how we would have interpreted it individually but theatre, as an art form, is designed to both entertain us and to make us think.

[EricaM]

I have never found Shakespeare's works incredibly fascinating. Rather, I always scoffed how the main female and male protagonists fall in love with eachother unrealistically fast (e.g. Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest). I had watched different adaptions of Romeo and Juliet, such as the 1968 film or the 1996 film starring Leonardo deCaprio, but I never felt really appreciative of Shakespeare's plays. It was rather, his sonnets that I held a soft spot for. However, perhaps it was the direct experience of a play and not other medias, but the show on Friday night had enthralled me completely. I was immediately captivated by the actors' brilliant performance. The "Contract of Love" song was amusing and hysterical and I was actually able to follow along with the plot. If they had not added the small fragments of originality, I would have been quite bored. Maybe in the end, it wasn't Shakespeare's The Tempest that I was completelyl in love with, but the production's creativity with Shakespeare's The Tempest.

[fballa]

I loved The Tempest! It was so funny. The actors did an amazing job, and the interpretaton was a perfect mix between contemporary and classical. I had read The Tempest before, and had actually considered it my least favorite Shakespeare play, but this production completley changed my mind! The song was definitley awesome, as was the fact that it was outdoors. That just added to the greatness of the play. It was also the perfect accentuation to Dr. Clerici's lecture. I really loved it.

I really liked this performance! I have never read The Tempest nor seen it at the theatre, so I didn't know what to expect, but I found it amazing! Even if I could only understand the general meaning of the play because of my poor English. I think that I could enjoy it because of the differnt musical parts that made it very involving. I don't agree with those who may say it wasn't actually Shakespeare because I think that it is impossible to recreate a Shakespearean play at all. Firstly because of the nature of the theatre itself: every performance is different from another; moreover because during five centuries the public is changed. Nowadays we have TV, music, internet every day so it is more difficult to get involved in a theatrical play. And I think that these considerations have driven the actors to put those songs and music.

[DUB-a-YA021]

I loved this performance! It was very funny and i loved how they interpreted shakespeare in the play. I enjoyed the play even more when I found out what was going on. I knew it was definitely shakespeare because I could hardly understand anything they said. I really wish I had a synopsis before the play because at first I thought prosperot was sort of a Jedi Knight using the force with the mind trick. Well after being clued in by will and several other I understood the play and enjoyed it. La la la la lolli lolli- Contract of Love