The Tempest (The Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (32)
See it if you like Shakespeare in any shape or form! if like me cannot wait for Shakespeare in the park to come back soon!
Don't see it if you don't like Shakespeare or performances in open teathers
See it if Another wonderful night in the park for this community members partnership with Public Works. Entertaining and inspiring.
Don't see it if This is the last show at The Delacorte for 18 months. If you can manage to get a ticket for this one week show - GO.
See it if You can get a ticket to this one week run. You would enjoy Shakespeare performed in a creative way with addition of songs and choreography.
Don't see it if You dislike Shakespeare plays in any form or are a Shakespeare purist & would be appalled at changes or additions of song & dance numbers. Read more
See it if You like a modern inventive twist on Shakespeare at the beautiful [and LAST CHANCE before renovation] Delacorte Theater. Great singing!
Don't see it if you like your Shakespeare 'as written'. You don''t like outdoor theater or community involvement.
See it if You want to see Shakespeare reimagined in a way that makes space for community actors of all stripes and ages to participate.
Don't see it if You only want to see Original Shakespeare(TM), don't like musicals, only want pro actors or don't like community theaters participating. Read more
See it if you love the cast and/or Shakespeare in the Park.
Don't see it if you have super high expectations. The cast is great and the material is just good.
See it if Musical, public works, gender-swapped Prospero version. Light and fun night in Central Park. 2 hours; no intermission.
Don't see it if Changes/diversified Shakespeare, community members mostly just background - not doing a lot, pre-show announcements go long, outdoor theater Read more
See it if fan of Goldsberry &/or Public Works. Some nice music and good performances. Community groups mostly background but adds to the vibe.
Don't see it if don't like modernized, musicalized Shakespeare. Plot stripped down to the point of being hard to follow. Read more
Critic Reviews (13)
CRITIC’S PICK: “This new ‘Tempest,’ adapted by Benjamin Velez (whose songs are tuneful and sweet) and Laurie Woolery (whose staging is bumpy but joyous), continues the tradition but emphasizes a new note: the pang of goodbyes.”
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“...this adaptation of ‘The Tempest’ explores the power of choosing compassion over retribution. That’s fair. The story is about that — and it’s about how damnably hard that is and how that choice, for someone who has built their whole life on the sustaining power of anger, comes at a cost.”
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“The community’s featured moments are small and timid, and when we should be feeling engulfed by their presence, we instead feel the encroaching footprint of Alexis Distler’s towering set — the topsy-turvy frame of a house that serves little functional purpose. It’s not the euphoric note on which I expected to leave the Delacorte, but it’s a comfort to know that the Public Works thesis has once again been proven correct: When given the space to shine, New Yorkers can make magic.”
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“The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival has always been about the enduring vitality of Shakespeare, new writing of a sociopolitical bent, and fresh approaches to musical theatre. This production hits the trifecta. Shakespeare's autumnal comedy is thoroughly reimagined with a magisterial female Prospero (Renée Elise Goldsberry) and a score by newcomer Benjamin Velez that infuses this tale of usurpation, shipwrecks, and revenge, with a powerful countermelody of love and forgiveness.”
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“The production plays out as a series of self-contained set pieces, with design elements that are minimal and a score that generally comes off as narrative-driven and heavy-handed. The whole seems undercooked and scattershot”
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“There are enough, well, magical moments in this ‘Tempest’—many of which come courtesy of Goldsberry, who’s wonderfully cast as the benevolent, bitter Prospero.”
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Visually, the show is not as effective as it might have been considering the play usually includes a great deal of magic. There is very little in the way of scenic illusions or legerdemain. Alexis Distler’s setting which makes use of some elements of the design for "Hamlet," the previous staging on the Delacorte stage, a falling down mansion seemingly off its foundation, adds little to the production’s visuals. Except for the stunning harpy costume for Ariel by Wilberth Gonzalez, the rest of the designs are more than bland. The all-black leather creations for the Europeans give the production a contemporary look that feels out of place. The dozens of community partners dressed in matching blue and yellow outfits have been given little to do besides stand around as witnesses or hum to the large-scale musical numbers.
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“...from the remarkably breathtaking opening number that set the evening of magic, mystery, and surprises all the way through to the end with an uproarious standing ovation. The stage was full of what makes New York, New York...I left the Delacorte, on that beautiful New York evening knowing I had just experienced one of those performances that transcended theatrical expectations and human limitations. Something I will always remember.”
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