Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

One option for seeing Shakespeare in a New York City park on a (hopefully) balmy summer night is to wait on line at the Delacorte Theater for about six hours or make a $150 tax-deductible contribution for a reserved seat. Another choice is to hop on a train to 145th Street and take a short walk (or jump on a bus) to Riverbank State Park's newly renovated Amphitheater (on the bank of the Hudson River) for Pulse Ensemble's imaginative and delightfully entertaining production of "The Tempest." Arrive a little early and a beautiful sunset might put you in the perfect frame of mind for the Bard's play about magic, sprites, justice and young love.

As is usually the case with artistic director/director Alexa Kelly's multi-ethnic Harlem Summer Shakespearean productions, there are elements of contemporary "hip." Last year's "Romeo and Juliet" utilized some "Law and Order" ingredients, and this season's presentation reflects a "Lost" motif with ever-enlivening light and sound designs (Brian Richardson and Steve O'Shea, respectively) and dance numbers, which often seemed to keep even the youngest members of an only-in New York audience on the edge of their seats. William Andrew Kelly's set of Prospero's Magical Island with its platforms, stairways and cave dwellings serves the action of the play well—from floundering ship to dancing sprites to plotting malcontents—and as adds mystical aspects to the ephemeral theatrical proceedings. The inventive costumes (Courtney McClain) of the island inhabitants and conjured apparitions also add to the festivities.

A dedicated cast of eighteen seasoned actors and young thespians deliver a consistently fine presentation of the language, poetry and plot of the play. Twelve years before the opening titular magically induced tempest, Prospero (an overly-contemplative but solid George Tynan Crowley) had been set adrift in a rotten carcass of a boat with his infant daughter Miranda (a delightful, heart-winning Lauren Davis) by his brother Antonio ( "Soprano"-like Kevin Hauver) in order to usurp his position as Duke of Milan. Fortunately, kind old counselor Gonzalo (a likeable but underplayed Richard Vernon) provided the ill-fated nobleman with essential supplies and the duke's volume of magic lore.

One of the highlights in the proceedings in Prospero's plan to set things right is a delightful scene of love-at-first-sight as Miranda encounters The King of Naples son Ferdinand (Brian Cade), whose chemistry together is refreshingly romantic. Buffoonish and comic encounters with jester Trinculo (Udi Razzin), drunken butler Stephano (Joseph Raik) and the once-savage island inhabitant Caliban (evil-intentioned and high-spirited Bashir Solebo) create clownish diversions. The character who won my heart the most is Prospero's spiritedly aide de camp Ariel, uniquely portrayed with sisterly harmony by Raushanah Simmons, Hannah Sloat, and Linda Lee McBride. Beautifully costumed, they frequently danced, sang and enchanted, so much so that her (their) final exit as a "free spirit" was saddening but also joyful.

At the conclusion of the play, Prospero says, "Now my charms are all o'erthrown" as he relinquishes his magical powers; nevertheless, it seems unlikely that the charms of this midsummer eve theatrical experience for audience members will end with the enchanting curtain call.