The Tempest (St. Ann's Warehouse) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (62)
See it if you like your Shakespeare shaken up a bit; Phyllida Lloyd's direction is nothing short of iconoclastic, again
Don't see it if you like your Shakespeare traditional
See it if you love Shakespeare or the Tempest, want to see a fresh & often revelatory take on the text, love seeing strong brilliant women onstage.
Don't see it if you aren't interested in an all-female cast, only like traditional takes on Shakespeare, or have no familiarity with the material.
See it if You like creative and different interpretations of Shakespeare plays. That are true to the text but give you a very modern view.
Don't see it if You like classic versions of Shakespeare plays with traditional casts and settings.
See it if You like a clever take on Shakespeare, a play set within a play with an all female cast.
Don't see it if Shakespeare is not your cup of tea.
See it if You want to see a brilliant take on Shakespeare's final play with an amazing all female cast. Don't be skeptical of the prison aspect.
Don't see it if You can't stand anything other than a classical adaptation of Shakespeare and have a really closed mind about what theater is
See it if The payoff of Lloyd's Shakespeare Trilogy/prisoner motif. Woof. Absolutely brilliant casting. To see yourself in classic, off-limits roles.
Don't see it if Looking for straight presentation of text, rather than eminently enjoyable take. Object to women finally getting a look-in and owning it.
See it if you enjoy non-traditional productions of Shakespeare.
Don't see it if you haven't seen The Tempest before -- this one's a little hard to follow.
See it if Appreciate alternative spaces and casting (all female cast) Believe Shakespeare benefits from modern context
Don't see it if you are a purist
Critic Reviews (26)
"Walter's dignified performance keeps it all fairly grounded…In a slightly convoluted meta-theatrical device, we learn at the start that Walter is technically playing a prisoner who is playing Prospero…So when Prospero asks that we set him free, we know that on one level that’s impossible. But as Walter-as-prisoner bids goodbye to the rest of the cast, she seems like a wise and decent person, a dignified testament to the possibility of redemption and forgiveness."
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"An insightful triumph of pared-down theatre…Becoming more familiar not only with particular actresses but also the prisoners they loosely characterize, is a feature of the cycle’s particular accumulative power. There’s a lot of fantastic work in the ensemble. But it’s not enough to note how terrific – agile, alert, heartfelt – Jade Anouka is…You picture the untapped talent, too, in the fictional prisoner she embodies…Lloyd gives us rich food for thought by 'poor-theatre' means."
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"This sense that Shakespeare is embedded in our reactions to our problems is one of the great benefits of the staging, emphasizing his essential vitality. Another is the pure, bravura clarity of the telling, its imaginative richness…It's as beautifully staged as everything else, though is perhaps inevitably less fluent than the first two plays, well-oiled from performance. But Walter is a superbly compassionate Prospero controlling all around her with a kind of aching sorrow."
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"Lloyd's version arrestingly incorporates some of the supposed prisoners' own back stories into the fabric of the piece...But if there's a meta-theatrical element to it, the performances are robust and revealing on their own terms, without this editorializing. Walter is a revelation as Prospero; she has a quiet but devastating authority. And she's surrounded by a really superb ensemble…This production is both unique and faithful to the spirit of a play about letting go of the past."
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"Lloyd’s production pushes in various directions and finds less added resonance from a show that deals less in factions and politicking and more in magic and control…While the relationship between prison setting and island setting is clearly marked, the show doesn’t sell us on the link emotionally. Walter is restless as Prospero...She’s a great actor but I’m not convinced she’s found her character this time…There is magic here, but there is also clatter."
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"Of all the three it’s the least theatrically satisfying, a little bitty and fitful in comparison. But while it lacks of the propulsion of ‘Julius Caesar’ and ‘Henry IV,’ it features a commanding central performance from Harriet Walter…While it might be the least cohesive of the three, as the culmination of a project that explores how Shakespeare is played and by whom, that populates the stage with fascinating, complex women, it is still a production of power and a source of joy."
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"A brilliantly bracing new version of ‘The Tempest’…There’s a quirky earthiness, comic grit, and fiercely choreographed punch in this splendid diverse cast which has no weak link…The production is full of delights – especially Jade Anouka’s streetwise, red-wedged Ariel…Walters’ delivers a wonderfully intelligent performance…There have been many high-profile Shakespeare productions to mark 400 years since his death. Lloyd’s 'Tempest' is my personal favourite."
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"Lloyd’s production is a glorious reminder that genuine diversity on stage offers astonishing creative benefits. Everyone on stage looks different, sounds different and uses their body differently. Yes, it’s a hotchpotch, but a thrilling one. There’s not a character here who isn’t sharply defined…The all-female casts and prison setting make you see the play afresh…This is genuinely art to enchant."
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