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If you have never been to Ewing Manor, it is a wonderful venue to see a play. The cast is always extremely professional and the atmosphere is wonderful. The actors in this play were very good, especially the guy who played Caliban. His odd antics made the character's madness come across so well. I was very impressed and have been there to at least one of their three shows for six consecutive years.
While the Arial concept was inventive, Prospero and Miranda were dull and the pace of the play plodding with comic elements forgotten . I know the work, have seen several productions and kept wondering if I had misremembered the play: was it really this boring? I was stunned when I read how accomplished the actors were--was out stage not worth their effort? Nearly half of the main characters' dialogues was lost; no projection of voice. Since when is Prospero a well-mannered, well-meaning father without the complexity of revenge projected except in words tumbling out of his mouth? How can you deliver seriously comic dialogue in the scene where the king and sidekick almost get killed while sleeping--o.k., one actor tried (and he was spectacular in Three Musketeers on the same stage), but it was hard to do so by himself. Even the set--at first interesting during the opening storm was uninspiring. I wanted to like this production of this wonderful play; I support this theater, but I couldn't pretend--not could others. No buzz during the intermission and the parking lot was at least a quarter to a third empty when I left just before the beginning of the second act--others had already voted with their feet when the intermission lights went up...at least I debated whether I could take it or not. I couldn't; I like the play too much.
We went with friends and we all thoroughly enjoyed one of Shakespeare's best!!! This cast was superb, their costumes beautifully imaginative and the set perfectly sparse. We could not have had a more magical evening under the moon!!!
The play was wonderful. The staging was great as was the lighting Kareen Bandely's performance was worth seeing the entire play. Kareem Bandely did a great job portraying "the monster." One complaint was that at times you could not hear the actors. Great venue with comfortable seat due to seat cushions supplied by WGLT Normal.
An enjoyable evening was had by all! You don't have to be knowledgeable of Shakespeare to understand the royal saga which was portrayed by very talented actors. The "island inhabitant" was great fun to watch!
The acting was mediocre. The actor playing Caliban was the most dynamic. It was a real disappointment.
The actors in this play did a wonderful job. I think that this play would be very difficult to stage with all of the references to magic, spirits, etc. Keeping this is mind, the experience was satisfactory...not great, not poor, but satisfactory. My family and I attend the Shakespeare festival every year, and this performance has been our least favorite to date. Ushers/coordinators need to address loud audience members! There were two young girls sitting behind my family that would not stop talking--which was quite disrupting and very annoying! I have never experienced this as a problem at the festival, it took so much away from the experience.
