Word: prosperos
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...takes a great degree of theatrical skill to turn the box like dimensions of the Ex into anything other than one of Edgar Allan Poe's tomblike vaults-let alone invest it with the otherworldly aura of Prospero's mysterious island. Of itself, Robert McCleary's woodland setting, overgrown with mosses and shadows though it was, did not overcome this difficulty. But Boorstin's incantatory approach more than compensated. The first scene opened after a long, disoriented period of darkness during which three sprites, among them Ariel, introduced the audience to the magical qualities of their island world. The sprites...
THIS exaggeration of the action fills the lines of dialogue with meaning-in the second act, as Prospero tells Miranda how and why they were exiled, the rest of the cast mimes the story, thereby illustrating the lines and introducing the audience to the characters. But the superfluous movement (superfluous to Shakespeare) detracts from the subtleties of the verse and characterization. As a result, Robert A. Morse as Prospero, who by his magic has gained control of the island, plays his part a bit superficially, failing to communicate the tension that Prospero must feel at giving up his magic...
Betty Byrne, as Ariel, the "light and airy spirit" who does Prospero's bidding, is active and agile in the part, and Roxana Proser, as Caliban, creates a growling, beastly slave. Kaarel Kaljot, who plays both Antonio and Stephano, the King of Naples' drunken butler is particularly expressive and imaginative in both roles, prancing and reeling as Stephano and striding somberly as Antonio...
...scenes in which Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo, the King of Naples' drunken jester (slightly overplayed by Dan Hermann), conspire to wrest the island from Prospero's control are especially humorous. Since Bergreen has chosen to direct the play as a comedy, the celebration of Ferdinand and Miranda's marriage in the fourth act, at which Prospero displays his magical powers by creating a host of spirits, is played in a light and frivolous vein, Iris and Ceres reciting their lines like girls in a sixth-grade English class. This parody of the wedding hymn, necessary to maintain the exaggerated acting...
Ferdinand, portrayed by John Archibald, and Miranda, played innocently by Kent Wilson, are starry-eyed lovers caught under Prospero's magic spell. Rick Carr as Alonzo, the King of Naples, is the least active of the cast, and at times his performance seems uninspired...