OKAY SO TELLER'S TEMPEST
Cut for spoilers and length. If this baby is coming around to your city YOU MUST GO SEE IT.
I hereby proclaim that all Shakespeare plays must be accompanied by Tom Waits music because wow it really really fits. There was a live band playing on stage, doing covers of Waits' songs in between set changes or during sequences without dialogue. The stage set was built all ramshackle-like with wooden beams and discarded carnival props. It looks exactly how a Shakespeare play with Tom Waits music would look like.
All of the costume designs for the characters were awesome, too. My fave was Ariel, because Ariel is my fave from The Tempest anyway. He was all made up in white like Data from Star Trek, and with white hair and white contact lenses. He did most of the magic tricks during the show (you can watch him doing some here!), and before the show began he hung out on stage and did card tricks.
The other character design I really loved was Caliban, who was played by two performers from the Pilobolus dance company. He was made up of a pair nearly-naked dudes covered in paint who climbed all over each other and spoke in unison.
Prospero looked a bit like Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. Miranda was adorable. Ferdinand was an adorable fail puppy -- the actor was playing him like Bertie Wooster. Gonzalo was made into a badass older lady for the play. Prospero had some random magic servants who were crows wearing tuxedos.
The magic tricks were incorporated very well into the story and the action -- and even though I was sitting one row away from the front, I couldn't see how they were done!
It was super, super awesome, and I really wish I could see it again, but its run here is completely sold out.
