Emerging Shakespeare troupe, Smoking Mirror Theatre Company, will present “The Tempest” from Friday, August 30 to Sunday, September 15 at Gural Theatre at A.R.T/New York Theatres, Director John Gordon will stage Shakespeare’s magical tale of power, forgiveness and redemption with Prospero, the magician and Alonso, King of Naples, re-imagined as female characters.
The production’s non-traditional casting aims to challenge and expand our understanding of the play’s characters and themes, and to reflect the reality that we live in an increasingly female-oriented world. There have been female Properos before, but audiences have probably never before seen a Queen of Naples as an enemy to her. And in this production Miranda is a powerful young woman in her own right and not a shrinking violet.
Gordon states that the gender reversals “reflect the mirroring in betrayal by a brother upon his sister, shifting the traditionally male-dominated power dynamics to include female perspectives.” In the original play, Prospero is betrayed by his brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples, Alonso, is involved in this betrayal. By making both Prospero and Alonso female, Gordon enables us to explore the parallel experiences of betrayal suffered by these women at the hands of their brothers. This casts the play’s themes of sibling rivalry, trust, and the emotional impact of betrayal in a new light.
Otherwise, the interpretation is traditional, emphasizing the beauty and rhythm of the original text and preserving the play’s intended messages about power, control and forgiveness.
Tickets range from $18 – $35. Click here to purchase.
Gural Theatre at A.R.T/New York Theatres is located at 502 West 53rd Street, NYC
