William and I saw "The Tempest" in Ashland last night. Wow. I forgot how awesome professional theatre is. We were in the front row, stage left. Ashland is about 90 miles south of us, not a bad drive, except we have 4 mountain passes to cross on I-5. We met William's high school buddy and his wife there, they come from the south about the same distance. It was totally worth getting home at 1 am which is very late for us.
The Elizabethan Theatre in Ashland is a wonderful re creation of the one used in Shakespeare's time. Ashland is at 2,000' and the open air theatre was quite cool and everyone huddled under blankets. I don't think London is known for it's warm weather either. And I felt bad for the Elizabethans, I had a lot of polartic on.
The play was directed by Libby Appel, in fact it was her last, as she is moving on from Ashland. I had seen her direction of "Richard III", a few years ago when I took my English classes. I so loved what she did with that play, she made it was so much more powerful. When I heard this was her last play I really wanted to see it. I was not disappointed.
Prospero and King Alonso make peace.
- Ashland Shakespeare Festival
These actors were both incredible, especially Prospero. This is also Shakespeare's last play and some say his best. It almost begins where a tragedy leaves off, only years later. And though it is not a comedy as the other comedy's, it has some very funny lines. It has a happy ending and deals with all the mistaken identities and transformations of humans, as so many of his other plays do. The older I get the more I appreciate Shakespeare.
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on......."
- The Tempest, Act IV, Scene i
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