Monday, 7/7/97 ‘Tempest’ provides food for thought Shakespeare
Festival/L.A.’s production to benefit the homeless
By Alicia Cheak Daily Bruin Contributor Shakespeare Festival/LA
is in its 12th season, and beginning Wednesday at California Plaza
in Downtown Los Angeles, "The Tempest" will stir audiences with a
shipwreck, an enchanted island, conspiracy, romance, monsters,
fairies, fools and of course, some clever magic. All this amidst
the sounds of gushing water, cool night air and a starlit sky. The
price of admission? Canned foods. "There were a lot of homeless
people who started collecting aluminum cans and bringing them to us
and telling us that if we brought them to the recycling center we
could get a nickel a can and that was their admission price," says
Ben Donenberg, artistic director and creator of Shakespeare
Festival/L.A. "So we decided that they should keep those cans and
we started asking people to bring canned foods instead of paying to
see the show." So far, the festival’s policy of "food for thought"
has amounted to $1.5 million worth of food for the needy in
Southern California. Donenberg believes that a 12-year existence
definitely makes the festival a part of Los Angeles’ identity. "The
festival has been reaching into a lot of local communities,"
Donenberg says. The set-up for "The Tempest" is a very unusual
island community. The play opens with a ship’s crew battling a
turbulent storm, the product of the magical Prospero, who lives on
the island with his daughter, Miranda, and two semi-natural
creatures. Their world begins to change when Prospero brings his
enemies to the island, hoping they will purge their sins. As with
any Shakespearean romance, a resolution is finally achieved, but
not without some laughter along the way. The biggest challenge in
this production is the staging, which required draining off 100,000
gallons of water from the Watercourt at California Plaza so that a
set could be constructed in the middle of it. Given that the story
takes place on an island, the set-up adds to the drama. "(Director)
Andrew Tsao looked at theater companies throughout the ages dating
back to Shakespeare’s time and wondered a little about what the
company would look like in the next millennium," Donenberg says.
The final image is a "music hall, turn-of-the-century,
vaudevillian, timeless look." And what does this all look like?
Imagine a Las Vegas-like billboard looming above an antiquated
arch, to which is attached a middle door with two giant woodcuts of
the bard’s face. Next, throw in purple and pink circus-like colors
and some slapstick, "pull- things-out-of-a-hat" theatrics. But
despite the modernized embellishments, Donenberg believes that the
story is very much the same. "We try to create a context which
brings to life Shakespeare’s characters in an idiom that will speak
to Los Angeles audience in 1997," Donenberg says. "But the story
really comes to life with the words and the relationships among the
characters." With the success of the summer Shakespeare festival
("The Tempest" is already sold out for four of its 10
performances), Donenberg is looking to expand his affinity for
creating traditions. "Free Shakespeare in the summer is now a
tradition in Los Angeles," Donenberg says, "and I’d like to see
similar traditions in the spring, fall, and winter – but with
different productions and different playwrights." It won’t be too
surprising if Donenberg does indeed pull it off, especially if the
locals continue to be enthusiastic and supportive. Donenberg cites
an NEA study a couple of years ago that indicated 8 percent of the
population went to a live theatrical production. He would "like to
think of Festival/LA as theater for the 92 percent." THEATER: "The
Tempest" runs from July 9 to 20 at The Watercourt at California
Plaza, 350 S. Grand Avenue, in Downtown Los Angeles. For free
seats, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Shakespeare
Festival/LA, Box Office 411, W. 5th Street, Suite 815, Los Angeles.
For more information, call (213) 489-1121. Shakespeare Festival LA
Dan Hildebrand,(l.) Tom Ramirez, and Liz Stauber. Related Link
Shakespeare Web, author web site