"The Tempest"

Wednesday, August 1 — When the itinerant Theatre Under the Stars brought their production of "The Tempest," my second favorite Shakespeare play to my New Hampshire home town, there was no excuse for missing it. (My favorite Shakespeare play is "Henry V.") You don't even have to like Shakespeare to enjoy this troupe's work. They're talented, energetic, funny, dressed in brilliant period costumes and great fun to watch. Who needs to understand all that archaic Shakespearian dialog?

Short on male actors, several traditional male roles had to be converted to female. Prospero became Prospera, played by Theatre Under the Stars Founding/Producing Artistic Director Donna Devlin-Young at the top of her game. Executive Manager Will Hammond was sufficiently savage as the slave Caliban. Lesley Shannon sang her way through the role of Ariel with great energy. Matthew Lynch expertly shifted between the dual roles of Ferdinand and the comically drunken Stephano. Charlotte Foster was also excellent in the dual roles of Trinculo and Gonzala (Gonzalo). Kaileela Hobby as Miranda, Joshua Marx as Alonso and Caley Vickerman as Antonia were all superb.

The shaking of a large sheet of metal to simulate thunder, although an appropriate "Tempest" sound effect, at times became annoying, drowning out some of the dialog, but now I'm nitpicking. This was overall a very entertaining evening, and Theatre Under the Stars is a New Hampshire treasure.

If I have a chance to see one more Theatre Under the Stars performance this season, it will be "Interactive Robin HooDDD," an original play written by Donna Devlin-Young, no doubt in her inimitable off-beat, often hilarious, sometimes mildly raunchy style.

Check out the Theatre Under the Stars website and find out if you suffer from "Bad Shakespeare Syndrome" at this link:

http://www.shakespeareinthevalley.com/