SSC: The Tempest

It's been quite a while since I wrote about a play at the Seattle Shakespeare Company. My wife and I have been season ticket holders of SSC since were married and really enjoy the company's performances. This past Thursday we took in The Tempest, the last of SSC's 2008-09 season. It was quite good, as they usually are, but I must say that of the four plays we saw this season, The Merchant of Venice was the standout. The last scene when Shylock demands his pound of flesh... whoah, intense.

If you're not familiar with The Tempest, you can read a summary on Wikipedia or take a peek at SSC's own one-page "Jumpstart" PDF or listen to their podcast. We enjoy the pre-show jumpstart (only available on the second the second Thursday of the production). It's an hour-long introduction not only to the play but the production itself. Sort of a Cliff's Notes to get you in the mindset for the performance. I learned that The Tempest was the last Shakespeare wrote on his own, and follows Aristotle's three unities: unity of time, place, and action, unlike his other plays. The entire story takes place between 2 and 6 o'clock, on the same island, and has only one main plot. The other thing I learned about the play was that scholars believe that Prospero, the protagonist, probably represents Shakespeare himself. When Prospero breaks his staff at the end of the play, it (might) signifies Shakespeare's retirement.

This production was simple, but had some standout performances. I really enjoyed Ariel, the good spirit serving Prospero--played by and as a female, not as a male as the character was written. The music was good and was apparently written specifically for this production by Jesse Sykes. The character Caliban was played by a very agile and well-made up actor. His performance reminded me of Gollum in how he crouched and jumped around the set, especially with that long braided hair. The most striking performer was Prospero, however. Extremely well acted by... so familiar... had I seen him in an SSC performance before? No... I couldn't figure it out until Act 4: It's Taylor! Taylor from Gilmore Girls (yes, I've seen Gilmore Girls... I'm married, so it's okay). It struck me and from then on I couldn't stop thinking of him as the uptight town councilman. But Michael Winters is clearly an excellent stage performer, too.

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