Review: Smoking Mirror Theatre’s Bewitching, Female-Forward "The Tempest"

The Tempest

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by John Gordon

Presented by Smoking Mirror Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres

502 W 53rd St, Manhattan, NYC

August 30-September 15, 2024

Cam Gray (Miranda), Nancy Rich (Prospera). Photo by Jonathan Slaff.
Smoking Mirror Theatre’s production of The Tempest draws on its multitalented cast to present a joyful and moving production of Shakespeare’s last play. Set against the simplicity of a black box theater, the cast’s wide-ranging skills stand out, both in presenting the range of emotion the text demands as well as expertise in choreography and music. While the radical forgiveness movingly and convincingly offered by Prospera (Nancy Rich) allows for the play’s happy ending, the production equally reminds its audience of the challenges that remain for Milan and Naples in the form of younger brothers who do not truly repent of their machinations to overthrow their siblings and the punishment of Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano, whose treatment by their masters does not seem commensurate with their laughable, comic delusions of grandeur.
L-R: Coleman Shu-Tung (Caliban), Ronan Schwartz (Stephano), Justin Bennett (Trinculo). Photo by Jonathan Slaff.
Nancy Rich gives the cross-gendered casting of Prospera an extraordinary degree of flexibility, tender and poignant in her maternal interactions with Miranda (Cam Gray), angry and authoritative with Ariel (Bellamy Woodside Ridiger), admirable in the forgiveness she proffers. The cross-gendering of Alonsa (Alice Marks) is especially effective in allowing these two characters to mirror each other as mothers and rulers. Strong performances by the production’s Antonio (Martin Challinor) and Sebastian (Meg Gwyn) showcase the genuine challenge they present in their plots to overthrow their siblings while also, through their almost overblown jaded and disaffected demeanor, making them part of the play’s comedic subplot. That subplot was led, of course, by Caliban (Coleman Shu-Tung), Trinculo (Justin Bennett), and Stephano (Ronan Schwarz) all of whom shone in their roles.
Front: Tony Savage, Bellamy Woodside Ridiger. Behind: Alice Marks, Meg Gwyn. Right: Martin Shallinor. Photo by Jonathan Slaff.
The production’s choreography and music are standout aspects of the production and even more impressive as they are due to two of its standout actors, Bellamy Woodside Ridinger, who plays Ariel, and Cam Gray, who plays Miranda. Ridinger’s own movements are elegant and ethereal in the play, emphasizing Ariel’s non-human status and gender-fluidity, and the lovely choreography he developed for his own character also shone in the masque of the goddesses in the latter part of the play. The masque also features the musical performance and arrangement of Cam Gray, in which the vocal harmonies seem almost otherworldly. Throughout the production, the music, whether performed by the characters or incidental, features prominently.
Center: Cam Gray (Miranda). Photo by Jonathan Slaff.
If The Tempest’s considerations of ambition, revenge, and insurrection are as relevant in our own time as in Shakespeare’s, so too is its insistence that only forgiveness and love provide the way forward. And yet, as this production reminds, even the most radical forgiveness and relinquishment of power, as seen in Prospera handing over her staff to Ariel, while necessary, do not completely mitigate the threat of unrepentant usurpers or the uncomfortable and unjust domination over others. As ever, a move toward a more just and loving society is hardly straightforward but is always worth the attempt.

-Stephanie Pietros

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