This past weekend I was privileged to see one of the final performances of Greta Lambert at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where she performed the role of Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. I’d never seen or even read “The Tempest” before, in any form, and prepped by watching Overly Sarcastic Productions’ ten-minute review. For the uninitiated, the play opens with a handful of Italian noblemen and their hangers-on being caught in a terrific storm at sea, and washing up on an enchanted isle, the ship’s passengers being widely separated and cut off from one another. As we learn watching the play, this was no ordinary storm, but one conjured up by a sorcerer, Prospero, who in youth was the duke of Milan. He (or in this case, she) was sent into exile with her young daughter Miranda, and usurped by her brother Antonio. Now, with young Miranda maturing into adulthood, Prospero has arranged things to enact vengeance by getting his daughter happily married to one of the noblemen’s sons. (Not his brother’s, obviously….), aided by a fairy spirit and a demon-like thing. As expected from ASF, the acting was superb all around, especially Lamberts’, and I particularly liked the background acting of the young lady who played Arial, the fairy. What made this production so entertaining, though, was the choice of music: the play’s comic relief, a pair of drunk soldiers, kept roaring Irish sea shanties.
Reading Freely 
…and, of course, the basis for ‘Forbidden Planet’.
Only seen ‘Romeo & Juliet’ performed on stage. Shakespeare ROCKS!
ooooh. I think I’ve seen that one (did it have the ST-TOS like deco?) but am not sure. I’ve enjoyed most of the Shakespeare I’ve watched, with the except of the weird post-apocalyptic take ASF did on MacBeeth). both plays and movies. The Kenneth Branagh/Robin Williams version of Hamlet (set in tsarist Russia) was most interesting.
This is it… One of my all time fave SF movies.
Ohhhh, thanks! I’ve not seen this one. I’ve honestly never seen Nielsen in anything where his hair wasn’t white before. Adding to my must-watch list.
Ooh, sounds like a fun time! I’m really liking the look of that set (and sea shanties… you can’t go wrong).
Yes! The background was meant to evoke a crashed ship, but it offered concealment for the musical instruments, and a place for Prospero & Aerial to spy as needed. There was also a wrecked piano that Aerial played music on to cast a spell.