August 17, 2022
Page 7
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Oregon Shakespeare
Opinionated
Judge
presents “The Tempest”
by
Darleen
Ortega
One of the two best shows I
have seen so far this season at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival is on
stage until October, while the oth-
er closed on July 30 but deserves a
deep bow of respect. Two highly
anticipated final shows open at the
end of this month.
You can still see “The Tem-
pest” on the outdoor stage through
October 15. I had the pleasure of
seeing the great Kevin Kenerly as
Prospero, the banished duke who
has spent years in exile enslaving
a spirit. Ariel, and a perceived
monster, Caliban, along with rais-
ing his young daughter Miranda
and accumulating spiritual power
that may make possible the re-
venge he has longed for against
his enemies, including his usurp-
ing brother. Kenerly was mas-
terful as Prospero; he has a way
of infusing with intention every
movement down to the slightest
muscle twitch, and his deep voice
and presence commanded the
stage while still conveying sorrow
and subtlety.
Such is the depth of Black tal-
ent at OSF that, as of August 10,
viewers will have the pleasure of
watching Tyrone Wilson step into
the role of Prospero and Chris
Butler step into the role of Alonzo
formerly played by Wilson. These
two masterful veterans will no
doubt bring their own power into
the production.
The casting is particularly inter-
esting given that the play involves
a story of colonization. Prospero
has landed on this island due to
wrongs done to him, but quickly
assumes the role of colonizer, en-
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The Tempest (2022): Grace Chan Ng, Kevin Kenerly. Photo by Jenny Graham
slaving the island’s two residents
and exercising benevolent but to-
tal control over Miranda. Casting
a powerful Black man in the role
holds the potential to wake up
some audience members—partic-
ularly those of us who feel most
acutely the impacts of coloniza-
tion—to the moral ambiguity of
his character. He is sympathetic
yet problematic, a sometimes kind
dehumanizer—not unlike many
colonizers. Are we prone to ex-
cusing these behaviors given his
own status as victim, his legiti-
mate grievances, his compelling
presentation? How should we
think about these ambiguities?
This production benefits from
an additional Black actor in the
role of the spirit Ariel—Geoffrey
Warren Barnes II. New to OSF,
Barnes’s presence and voice are
so transporting that they supports
the illusion of flight. Both he and
Caliban (James Ryen) are treat-
ed as other on an island which
birthed them; it’s worth watching
how their responses to dehuman-
ization may evoke different levels
of sympathy; though one is more
appealing than the other, ought we
be satisfied with that explanation
for any difference in our response?
The uncluttered conception
of the show serves these rumi-
nations, and standouts in the
remainder of a solid cast are
Grace Chan Ng as Prospero’s
daughter Miranda and William
Thomas Hodgson as Ferdinand,
who quite understandably falls
in love with Miranda on sight.
Too young and innocent to be
distracted by the power plays
happening around them, their
purity of heart offers a sort of
alternative universe, in which
uncomplicated love is possible,
even as one wonders how good
one’s heart must be to sustain
such clear intention.
I regret that family challenges
this summer prevented me from
offering more timely accolades
to OSF’s wonderful produc-
tion of “How I Learned What I
Learned,” which closed July 30.
Steven Anthony Jones positive-
ly channeled playwright August
Wilson’s brilliance and wis-
dom in this moving production,
which genuinely felt like sitting
at the feet of the master. Wilson
originally performed this mono-
logue himself, before his pass-
ing in 2005, and while I could
only wish to have heard him in
person, Jones captures so well
the sense of Wilson speaking
across more generations than the
one lifetime he lived, and Tim
Bond’s fine direction contribut-
ed to a performance that felt inti-
mate yet expansive enough to fill
the Bowmer stage. A deep bow
of respect for this thoroughly
satisfying show.
Two final shows will open
at the end of this month. “King
John,” directed by Rosa Joshi,
presents a cast of female and
non-binary performers in Shake-
speare’s history play. Presented in
conjunction with Seattle’s upstart
crow collective and benefiting
from a fine cast and Joshi’s strong
direction, this tale of a corrupt
monarch promises to speak direct-
ly to current challenges. And OSF
Artistic Director Nataki Garrett
directs the West Coast premiere of
“Confederates,” playwright Dom-
inique Morrisseau’s work about
two brilliant Black women facing
related struggles a century apart.
I’m looking forward to catching
both shows between now and their
closing at the end of October.