Monday, 8 March 2010

The Tempest in New York

The link below is to the theater review article from The New York for March 8th. I picked my copy up from the mailbox on Friday and I always read the theater and arts reviews first. This is just so I can moan about all I am missing in New York, pathetic I know. But once again another coincidence, or just a one in three chance, the Tempest is being performed in Brooklyn.

I enjoyed reading this review in the fact that Lahr seems to have read the work before, or at least understands the idea of illusion and magic in life that runs throughout the work. I also was pleased to see that he recognizes that Shakespeare talks directly to the audience through Prospero, that there are many realities on the "island," the island is both inside and outside Prospero and the drama is within the mind, also how the set is put together intrigues me and is an insight as to how Mendes sees the work.

Lahr writes the perfect lines at the end connecting Shakespeare to Prospero. He writes, "Prospero, having restored the other characters to their senses, also disenchants himself of his own grandiosity. He stands before us now as an almost ordinary citizen and asks to be released “from my bands / with the help of your good hands.” This moment—at once elegiac and exhilarated—feels autobiographical: Shakespeare, the compulsive magician, is finally freed from the spell he cast."

I enjoyed the article and just wanted to share it with you all so enjoy if you wish!

Read more: “The Tempest” and “Clybourne Park,” review: newyorker.com

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