The Tempest Tickets

A great play brought to life by an amazing Miranda. The whole cast was great and the concept very entertaining. I'd definitely go again if is comes to the area.

Enjoyable show. Loved the puppeteers! Arial was well suited for the role and I'm sure that we'll see her in other performances!

This was the worst so-called modern version of Shakespeare I have ever seen. The orchestra drowned out big sections of the actor's dialogue so their lines could not be understood; the stagehands were constantly visible, distracting from the play; and a large TV screen stood behind the performance, with a puppeteer completely visible doing things on stage left that were projected on the big screen simultaneously, amateurish-looking clouds, lightning etc. Then people with big rabbit heads from Alice in Wonderland danced across the stage, along with all sorts of other pyrotechnics. It was long on technology and drugs and woefully short on Shakespeare, even to the point where the final speech of Prospero to the audience was upstaged by a dance of the degenerate villain Caliban. I'm going to mark down the man's name who did this production and make sure never to go to anything else he does. If I hadn't driven someone else to the performance I would have walked out in the intermission.

I have been to multiple plays and musical performances but this one was vastly different. No sets used so you literally have actors on stage with the orchestra basically reciting lines with gestures but no genes or back drops. I'm sure to the purist this was a good performance but not my style of acting or performing.

The orchestral performance was excellent and the acting was good (despite some sound problems in the opening act) but the overall production was nothing short of a distracting mess. Odd stage dressing combined with intrusive puppeteers mad the play tedious.

Such an amazing performance by all cast members. By far the most fun and entertaining character was Ariel, played Josh Montez. He was absolutely the star player on the stage and stole the show with his outstanding performance. Two thumbs up. Wish the show was still going so I could go again. Well done all!

This was a truly professional presentation, with excellent acting by all. Prospero was superb. The music added to the play was great. I would recommend this to anyone.

Great play (of course, it's Shakespeare!). Creative stage and set. The production flowed well. The only bad thing was that at the beginning, it was difficult to understand any of the dialogue due to the storm noise...

The play was magical and alluring - the acting very fine, although Miranda was a touch wooden (the actress seemed tired). I loved the costumes (especially Prospero's!) and the set design. Caliban was great! A bit... Darth Maulish?? But more funny than I remember when I read the play. (In my re-reading I discovered "sea-change" and to melt "into thin air" originated in that airy-fairy play). I loved the brown/red and cream/blue divisions. It seemed the elements were almost at war, but also came to peace in the end. The whole production was moving - Prospero, with all his powers, so alone and vulnerable at the end, begging US for his sustenance. Bravo.

Having never read or seen The Tempest, I didn't know what to expect. I found it a cross between the original Star Trek episodes and Lord of the Rings. (Perhaps they derived some of their inspiration from the Bard!) Caliphon (?) was the most engaging and entertaining character of all and drew me into the play more than any other. The spirits were captivating as well but the leading actor (Prospero) was quite dull and I left somewhat surprised that one with so little audience appeal would be cast in a leading role. In all, it was an enjoyable investment of a 100 mile one-way drive and 2 hours of an evening. Weather was ideal and the environment was perfect. My wife and I will attend the Illinois Shakespeare Festival again next year!