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Bare Theatre Review - "The Tempest"Bare Theatre Review "The Tempest" Is A Mixed Bag Bare Theatre's trademark no-frills presentation of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare's valedictory play, THE TEMPEST, which opened on Feb. 12-15 at Common Ground Theatre in Durham and concludes its two-week run on Feb. 21 and 22 at Holly Springs Cultural Arts Center in Holly Springs, is a mixed bag. Matthew Schedler is effective as the powerful sorcerer Prospero, Seth Blum projects all the smoldering resentments and malice of Prospero's malformed menial Caliban; and Blum's wife, Rebecca, and Richard Butner make a delightful Laurel-and-Hardy-like comedy team as King Alonso of Naples' hard-drinking butler Stephano and drunken jester Trinculo. But Charlotte Pate is rather bland as Prospero's beautiful but cloistered daughter Miranda, and she further handicapped by an unfortunate haircut, which makes her look like Miss Hathaway from “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Andrew Heil fares better as the hopelessly smitten Prince Ferdinand, who tumbles head over heels the first time that he spies Miranda. Chuck Keith and Lucinda Gainey are disappointing as King Alonso of Naples and his wise old courtier Gonzalo, but Bare Theatre managing director Heather J. Hackford gives a strange but charming birdlike performance as the impish captive spirit Ariel, who does Prospero's bidding constantly hopes to convince him to free her. The rest of the cast is game, but too inexperienced to provoke the gales of laughter or evoke the lump-in-the-throat poignancy of THE TEMPEST. Director Carmen-maria Mandley has injected a good deal of pizzazz, but not a lot of clarity, into the proceedings. Sadly, THE TEMPEST is not one of Bare Theatre's most successful efforts. SECOND OPINION: Feb. 18th Durham, NC INDEPENDENT WEEKLY review by Sylvia Pfeiffenberger: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:287866; and Feb. 14th Raleigh, NC NEWS & OBSERVER review by Jim Wise: http://www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/arts_entertainment/theater_reviews/story/1405645.html. Bare Theatre presents THE TEMPEST Saturday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. at the Holly Springs Cultural Center, 300 W. Ballentine St., Holly Springs, North Carolina 27540. HOLLY SPRINGS SHOWS: 919/567-4000 or click here. BARE THEATRE: http://www.baretheatre.org/next.html. HOLLY SPRINGS CULTURAL CENTER: http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/dept/park/culture/. SHAKESPEARE RESOURCES (courtesy University of Virginia): http://etext.virginia.edu/shakespeare/. E-TEXT OF PLAY (also courtesy UVa): http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ShaTemF.html (1623 First Folio, edited by John Heminge and Henry Condell) and http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/MobTemp.html (1866 Globe Edition, edited by William George Clark and William Aldis Wright).
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