Word
of the Day:
tem·pest
[tem-pist
noun]
1. a voilent windstorm, especially one with rain or hail.
As William Shakespeare drew his
quill from its ink station: I ponder whether or not if he was aware that he was
about to place onto parchment the written word that would alter the imagination
of artists everywhere. Some may argue that The Tempest, Shakespeare's
last play, was one of his lesser triumphs. Known for its darkened-humor, immensely
long monologues, and its reoccurring theme on class struggles of the time: The
Tempest has been known to be a monstrous task to produce. On the other hand,
the play is a minefield of opportunity to showcase the artist's talent, nerve and
sanity (or insanity, based on interpretation).
Tempest: A Small Introduction
The Tempest has been produced at theatres around the world: in venues
such as Shakespeare in the Park, The Old Vic, Several screen adaptations, and
it has even made a full-circle in recent productions at The Globe Theatre in
London. The Tempest follows the story plot of Prospero, the usurped Duke
of Milan and his perilous fight for vengeance and power. Throughout the play we
follow a series of miniature story-lines that all connect back to the main plot
of Prospero and his plans of revenge. We follow lovers, we follow fools, and we
even follow several murder plots. The Tempest is a magical, and I do
mean magical, adventure that takes audiences away from their lives and
captures their attention in the question of the play: what is the mortality of
fairness, and how do we achieve fairness without being ruthless.
Tempest: Comedy? Drama?
Many artists interpret The
Tempest in a spectrum of ways. Each view is independent of one another, and
adds to the conversation of the play. many productions manipulate the text to
be performed as a comic adventure, while others (more recently) have shown
The Tempest to be of a dark nature. While you can dispute that tone of the
play is "in the eye of the beholder": I want to clear the air once
and for all.
The Tempest is a serio-comedy. Or in modern terms: a dramedy.
Many aspects of the play show a
darker side to humanity that includes murder, slavery and suppression of the
weaker being. However, in technical terms: The Tempest is a comedy. It was an
unwritten "political play" rules that Comedy's end in a marriage. Due
to the fact that The Tempest follows this un-official rule, many artists
see the Tempest as a comedy. Yet the artist cannot turn its eye away from the
not-so-comic subject matter of the play. In modern times we have a combination
of tones that accent areas of comedy and drama.
Why the big fuss about The Tempest?
How does this affect me?
The Tempest is a remarkable feet of work to not only produce, but to decipher.
Seeing the mountain of artistic potential, I look up to the tip that seems so
far away and say:
"let's start climbing".
The MCVTS School of Arts is prepared
to start its daring climb to achieve understanding the play and sharing our interpretation
of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. We can only add to the buzzing conversation of
today's generational issues by expressing our cartelistic reactions in hope
that we can enlighten the world around us on how we, as artists and not
high school students, see the problematic themes of the present from the same
rose-tinted glasses Shakespeare saw through: The Tempest.
Signed,
Hayley Michelle
&
The Student Body of MCVTS School Of
The Arts
Performance Dates: March 14, 15, 16, 21, 22
112 Rues Lane East Brunswick, NJ
Tickets can be purchased by Students of MCVTS School Of The
Arts and or at the door
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