and, with a quaint device, the feast vanishes.

May 15, 2014 12:22 AM

“Putting magic at the center of a play about a magician doesn’t seem like that radical a choice,” explained Teller’s  co-director and co-adapter Aaron Posner. "But in the history, at least the modern history of producing 'The Tempest', it is a radical choice."

posted by divabat (24 comments total)

Oh, I would watch the heck out of this!
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:29 AM on May 15, 2014 [5 favorites]

IIRC, Teller has wanted to do something like this since college.
posted by ShawnStruck at 12:31 AM on May 15, 2014

I have a friend who's a stage magician and actor by trade and has been working on a one-person show about her life (notably the story of her gender transition) through magic. She's also a Shakespeare fan. I sent this to her before posting this here - sounds like just her kind of thing!
posted by divabat at 12:36 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Of course special effects are hardly unknown in modern theatre, but it's interesting to situate them explicitly in the tradition of conjuring. In one way it makes perfect sense. There is a risk that it reduces Prospero's status from mage to trickster and cuts the sense that the spirits and monsters he's dealing with are real and potentially dangerous.
posted by Segundus at 12:55 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Makes me wonder if he's a fan of Locke & Key.
posted by DisreputableDog at 1:45 AM on May 15, 2014

This sounds like fun; I saw a production of their take on MacBeth that went for a Grand Guignol, horror aesthetic. It was super cool and fun.
posted by KingEdRa at 3:57 AM on May 15, 2014

We have tickets to this at the end of the month. Don't tell me how it ends!
posted by backseatpilot at 3:58 AM on May 15, 2014

Fiddlesitcks, saw this on a bus poster, but it's probably sold out.
posted by sammyo at 4:13 AM on May 15, 2014

Shakespeare, Tom Waits, and half of Penn and Teller?

Has...has someone developed the ability to stage my dreams?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:17 AM on May 15, 2014 [13 favorites]

Hold the phone, TOM WAITS is in on this?!?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:29 AM on May 15, 2014

...and half of Penn and Teller?

The BEST half of Penn and Teller.
posted by Optamystic at 4:36 AM on May 15, 2014 [10 favorites]

We have tickets to this at the end of the month. Don't tell me how it ends!

It's Shakespeare. You know the ending: the twins are due to be executed for refusing to marry the right people but their lawyer rips off her disguise and reveals that she was the Duke's sweetheart and he marries her during a duel against the villainous usurper who poisons them all which leaves the way clear for Good Queen Bess to inherit the throne.

You know, the usual one.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:36 AM on May 15, 2014 [10 favorites]

Fiddlesitcks, saw this on a bus poster, but it's probably sold out.

I just checked their website, and it looks like there are still at least a few tickets left on most nights. GO GET YOUR TICKETS.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:43 AM on May 15, 2014

Hold the phone, TOM WAITS is in on this?!?

Yep! They bury it a little in the article, but towards the end:

Musician Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan gave Teller access to their catalog of gritty songs.

I hope somebody records this and makes it available.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 6:15 AM on May 15, 2014

Whoever buries Tom Waits in an article is not a good person. Whoever buries Tom Waits in an article is not a person. They are a configuration of particles behaving in precisely such a way as to piss me off.
posted by BiggerJ at 6:20 AM on May 15, 2014 [4 favorites]

"Verily, but from whenst did yon liquid of flame come forth?"
posted by malocchio at 6:27 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yow! This looks really quite interesting. Definitely want to check this out. And it's even not totally sold out yet.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:34 AM on May 15, 2014

Yeah, I just got tickets this morning, it is not sold out.
I saw Teller's Macbeth at the Folger in DC years ago, and it was one of the most amazing pieces of theatre I've ever seen. Just... breathtaking, chilling moments.
I expect this will be on the same level.
posted by Adridne at 9:26 AM on May 15, 2014

Aforementioned magician friend told me that she went to a production in London that incorporated a lot of stage magic too, including the entirety of the Masque which people tended to cut or trim. She didn't say what year, but that Derek Jacobi played Prospero.
posted by divabat at 10:27 AM on May 15, 2014

This is such a great idea for staging that play! Especially considering that it was written in part because of King James' love of big, decorative spectacle.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 10:46 AM on May 15, 2014

Has...has someone developed the ability to stage my dreams?

Wait until you see our interpretation of the one with the giant, vengeful carrot.
posted by metaBugs at 12:03 PM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Verily, but from whenst did yon liquid of flame come forth?"
posted by malocchio at 10:27 PM on May 15

I love Arrested Development JUST BARELY more than I hate precious Ye Olde Fake Shakespearean Englishe. You win this round.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:06 PM on May 15, 2014

Huzzah!
posted by malocchio at 8:51 AM on May 16, 2014

I just saw this production tonight. Holy crap that was outstanding.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:33 PM on May 29, 2014