Art Review: Tempestuous became confusing

While not the weirdest production I’ve ever seen, Wednesday’s performance of “The Tempest” by traveling troupe The Acting Company at the Musical Arts Center is certainly a contender. While costumes, sets, light and sound effects all had redeeming qualities and the acting ranged from decent to excellent, the overall result leaned a bit too far toward “artistic.”\nMy immediate impressions of Prospero and Miranda were that they were slightly deranged people who never leave the house.\nMiranda’s outfit, while not inherently unattractive for actress Kelley Curran, is best suited to a little girl, which I initially thought was the intention – she starts out as a sheltered daddy’s girl who grows into a young married woman.\nUnfortunately, we never see that change. Curran kept the same hot pink leggings, brown cowboy boots and off-white ruffled, layered dress throughout the play. The only visible difference is that by the end her hair is down and loose though it started out in a hair wrap.\nProspero’s gray plaid pajamas and robe combined with his shaggy gray hair, glasses and “magic” magnifying glass around his neck all added to the image of a cranky, slightly nuts old man. However, unlike Miranda, his final transformation is clearly visible in his clothing – \nwith hair tied back, a regal robe and no glasses, he becomes a duke once again.\nOn the whole, the sound work was effective, bringing the audience into the scene with crashing waves and thunderous clashes.\nThe music the Company added is also an interesting mix, from a sweet melody by Victoire Charles’s Ariel to Michael Stuart Allen rocking and rolling as Caliban. \nProbably the trippiest element was the spirits/back-up dancers. Covered head to toe in white and red (even their heads were covered by white cloth that disappeared into high-necked jackets), these “characters” definitely added to the spectacle, but left me wondering “OK, and what was the point of that?” \nIn one number, dancers came on wearing foot-high stilts, with plastic bubbles – which they played like drums – strapped to their chests.\nWhile the core set was excellent for theatrical purposes, the two pieces of furniture – a green swivel chair and an orange metal staircase on wheels – \nfrankly just annoyed me on an aesthetic level. \nBoth served a purpose and actor movement utilized them well, but the color scheme made me want to yell, “Take an hour, a brush and some paint, and cover up the orange!”\nThe gray-patterned back wall and trapdoor-laden base were awe-inspiring. Depending on lighting, the wall became golden, red, green or blue as needed. The points of light embedded behind the wall also worked to set the mood effectively, whether as flashes of lightning or what looked like lanterns in a cave.\nOne detail that probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it did was the cast’s pronunciation of the Italian city Milan. I’ve always heard it “mi-LAHN;” they apparently decided it’s “MIL-uhn.” Every time someone said it, I was distracted by voices in my head screaming “Say it right!”\nThe show was good, but not great. The comedic parts usually hit the mark, but the dialogue often felt a bit rushed – and fast-spoken Shakespeare is even less comprehensible than regular Shakespeare. I give it one thumb up for good ideas, but not always the best follow-through.