Last week I went to possibly THE coolest dramatic performance I've ever witnessed. A bunch of students from the college up the road produced The Tempest; not only that, but they performed it "in the round." Basically the stage was in the middle of the room and the audience surrounded it. I was a little skeptical about the idea when I first heard about it, but trust me, it was the most amazing thing in the world. It made it feel completely real; it wasn't a bunch of people reenacting a story, it was like a VIP pass to spy on the original.
I must admit, I attended this play with some trepidation. Four years ago I acted in a production of The Tempest and don't have wonderful memories of it. This rendition, however, put my doubts to shame.
One thing I totally digged from this was the way the showed Caliban and Ariel. First, they were portrayed by five actors, which really brought to mind the fact that they were spirits (or sons of spirits. Whatever). Second, they were played by the same five actors, which was just plain cool. One minute they were on their hands and knees groveling on the floor and crawling over one another and the next they stood erect and attentive to their master's will, elegant and graceful. When I played Ariel all that time ago I always had a problem remembering that I was a fairy, and I was acting her! The way this was done solved that. It also kept the movement on the stage to a max, because there were four "extra" spirits up there moving about. All the motion actually made me pay more attention to the play, which might have aided my enjoyment of it...
In other news, the newest episodes of Doctor Who are incredibly amazing and you should all go watch them.
