Sea Sorrow and Yellow M & Ms

It was the rough magic and the BOGO that sucked me in.

Not that I'm not always eager to see Richmond Shakespeare's latest offering, but their recent staged reading of "Rough Magic," a play re-imagining characters from "The Tempest" come to life in modern-day New York, had featured actors from their current production of "The Tempest."

Seeing how strong they were in the reading made me want to see the original.

So when Richmond Shakes announced tonight was going to be buy one ticket, get one free, I scratched out the other things in my little red book and found another Bard lover and set sail for St. Catherine's.

We barely made it in time, took seats in the back row available and I immediately realized that the guy in front of me was blocking my view. Almost entirely.

With all the nerve in the world, I nudged my companion and we moved up a row, climbing over the guys who'd been blocking our view.

By then the thunderous storm had begun on stage, a place of fantastical multi-colored trees, a rock holding a sorceress' son and the home of Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan.

Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

John Mincks as the spirit Ariel was a wonder, sprinting around the stage, leaping across platforms and generally showing the same impressive physicality he'd shown in last year's "Spring Awakening."

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

He was a perfect example of why one of the best things about this production was the casting.

Instead of the usual aged Propsero, here he was played by Charlie Raintree as a vibrant middle-aged man still in his prime and wearing the most magnificent embroidered magical coat.

Keep a good tongue in your head.

Just as impressive was the choice of Isabelle Andrews to play Propsero's daughter Miranda, a role that calls for a 15-year old.

Andrews is a ninth grader at St. Catherine's, meaning she was every bit as fresh-faced as Shakespeare intended her to be.

How often does that happen?

Of course, that also made for a 21st century audience to be vaguely uncomfortable when her father allows her to marry, albeit another teenager, ninth grader Daniel Kunkel as Ferdinand (looking, if possible, even younger than Andrews).

I would not wish any companion in the world but you.

David Janosik as Stephano was his usual hilarious self, getting drunk, wearing women's clothes (well, too) and being chased by hounds.

During intermission, the guy whose head had momentarily blocked my view looked over and said hello.

Surprise, it was a friend, a charming wine geek I know who also happens to be a theater lover and who'd been lured to the play with a friend who'd already seen and loved the production.

He'd just returned from the lobby with a bag of M & Ms, prompting a discussion of them.

Seems he thinks the yellow M & Ms taste the best and he was generous enough to share some with me to prove his point.

His friend had a bag of peanut M & Ms, but no yellows, although he also generously shared.

No tongue! All eyes! Be silent!

It was such a lively and colorful production with the actors in their turn-of-the century garb looking so genteel.

I drink the air before me, and return 
Or ere your pulse twice beat

One of the actors who'd been so impressive at the reading was Jeremy Gershman who played the sorceress' son, Caliban, a deformed native of the island, referred to as a monster.

In  a tattered costume, the man hobbled around, living under a rock where he'd been banished and totally selling himself as a miserable human being.

He stayed in character to the point where he even hobbled offstage after the curtain call. Impressive.

You cram these words into my ears, against
The stomach of my sense

Nothing like having Shakespeare's words crammed into my ear for half price.

Twas a clever quibble, for sure.