The Tempest

We don't know if Bell Shakespeare's production of The Tempest was disappointing because it's one of Shakespeare's weakest, so the source material didn't do the cast justice; or whether it's because it was a stale interpretation — seemingly no interpretation at all.

It felt like watching actors at drama school reciting their lines, demonstrating just how much physicality and emotion they had in their armouries, mainly anguished expressions and awkward uses of "levels": so much unnecessary crouching. It felt like no one had bothered to interrogate what the story was actually saying, who the characters were and their motivations. It was Shakespeare-by-numbers.

There wasn't a lot about the production to recommend it; moments of comedy being any time clowns Stephano (Hazem Shammas) and Trinculo (Arky Michael) were on the stage deservedly got chuckles from the audience, and the standout moments in a play that seemed slow without something to propel it forward. There are better texts about revenge and power that give people (women! This play has the gender-distribution of Cabinet) something to actually work with, something that deserves someone like Brian Lipson in the lead role. Lipson's Prospero remains enthralling almost in spite of the mood of this production, the lighthouse through the storm.

The Tempest was the last production for outgoing Co-Artistic Director/Founder John Bell. We can only wonder where Bell Shakespeare will go without Bell to lead it.