From The Tempest
Aboriginal-themed version of The Tempest is a mess
For a Shakespeare production to capture and hold an audience’s attention outdoors on a summer’s evening amidst endless mosquitoes kids chasing squirrels and helicopters overhead it has to be good. Unfortunately Mount Royal College Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Tempest did not live up to the challenge. To be blunt I sat there enduring mosquito hell watching a show that provided me with very little to divert my attention away from the little lumps forming on my legs.
In a nutshell The Tempest tells the story of Prospero (Martin Evans) the exiled Duke of Milan who lives on an enchanted island with his daughter Miranda (Brittney Francis). He has set himself up as master of the island with little concern for its native inhabitants. In fact he has enslaved one Caliban (Telly James) as well as a spirit Ariel (Monice Peters) whom he released from a tree.
A ship bearing Prospero’s brother Antonio (Braden Griffiths) and the King of Naples Alonso (Brian Jensen) both of whom are responsible for Prospero’s exile is wrecked upon the island’s shore. They along with the rest of the ship’s survivors wander around the island seeking to be reunited with one another encountering the island’s (and Ariel’s) magical trickery along the way. A romance also blossoms between Miranda and Alonso’s son Ferdinand (Tyrell Crews).
What makes this production unique is that Shakespeare in the Park artistic director Martin Fishman has decided to people the island with aboriginal actors and lend an aboriginal presence to the show through native drummers and dancers. Fishman is trying to draw some parallels between Prospero’s domination of the island’s people and Canada’s treatment of indigenous peoples.
I wanted to like this show. The aboriginal contextualization is a brilliant idea. However the result is disappointing. The aboriginal theme isn’t fully developed. The dancers and drummers seem thrown in and are not used to their full potential. Rather a few jingle dancers awkwardly shuffle on stage here and there seeming completely out of place. The native drummers and singers wander around the stage’s fringes clad in jeans and T-shirts. Their music is wonderful but they need some costuming to make them a stronger aboriginal presence. Since there is a conscious attempt to lend The Tempest an aboriginal theme more needs to be done to make that evident to the audience.
Furthermore the aboriginal theme is completely watered down with the use of hip hop music during some scene changes and in one scene the jingle dancers break away from traditional dance forms and tried to do some sort of In Sync boy-band dance impression. What’s with that?
Also if Fishman is trying to draw parallels to Canada’s treatment of indigenous peoples why was the main spirit Ariel who Prospero enslaved not portrayed by an aboriginal actor? (Aboriginal actor James took on the part of Caliban Prospero’s other slave. However without both slaves being aboriginal the strength of the thematic parallel was lost.) That being said Peters does a spirited portrayal of Ariel.
Peters notwithstanding The Tempest lacks energy and is hard to follow. I couldn’t hear all the actors. The costuming is drab and seems to be a mish-mash of actual costumes interspersed with a few characters who forgot theirs at home.
James for example does a commendable job portraying Caliban. He is one of the production’s bright spots. Why though is he not wearing costuming more reflective of his aboriginal character? In today’s multicultural society one doesn’t automatically think his ethnicity is germane to the interpretation of the play unless there are visual indicators that it’s important.
Evans who portrays Prospero also does a fantastic job despite the play’s overall weaknesses. He is one of the few who has sufficient presence to command a Shakespearean role.
The production picks up momentum in the final 15 minutes. If only the entire show were like those final minutes. The play could have been so much better with a more dedicated commitment to the theme and more finessing. Instead my memories of the evening were ruled by the mosquitoes.
