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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