Review: THE TEMPEST at Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre

Lancaster Shakespeare Company gets wet, wild, and wacky in their summer production of The Tempest.  Performed in Musser Park, The Tempest celebrates goofiness and irreverence. Curtis Proctor, one of the company's board members accurately describes the show as "part Elizabethian, part Comedia del Arte, part "In-prov", and part Monty Python".

Tim Spiese stars as Prospero, a banished duke who lives on a magical island with his daughter Miranda (Emily Woodhouse) and two mystical creatures Ariel (Areanna Kroll) and Caliban (Philip Lisi).  All these performers have solid comic timing, and looked as if they were having a lot of fun.  I especially admired the rapport between Prospero and Ariel, which reminded me a lot of Oberon and Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Other keynote performances include the noble King (Queen?) Alonso (Emilia Casas), the wise Gonzalo (Penrose Hoover), and the humble Ferdinand (David Martin).  Dustin Schneider hams it up in the best possible way as Bosun, who also serves as an absurd narrator, explainer, commentator, and overall smartass.

Costume Designer Rachel Strayer decks out the cast as if they are getting ready for a Jimmy Buffet concert, There were Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts as far as they eye can see. Characters regularly dumped buckets of water on each other to simulate the play’s violent storms. The great irony being that my performance that was already damp and rainy, which made things  seem even more ridiculous.  None the less, the audience didn’t seem to mind the precipitation. Broadway theaters spend millions of dollars to replicate bad weather on stage.  LCS accomplished the same thing for free!

Co-directors, Jonathan and Rachel Stayer include a ton of creative, pop culture references in this show, including references to The Little Mermaid, Lady Gaga, The Muppets, and The Princess Bride.  A few of the specifics may fly over the heads of Gen Z, but everyone can appreciate the silliness being celebrated.

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