THE TEMPEST Will Come to Chesapeake Shakespeare Company This Spring
The production opens Friday, April 24 and runs through May 17, closing out the Company's Downtown Baltimore season.
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has announced its production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Shakespeare's spellbinding final masterpiece. Directed by Founding Artistic Director Ian Gallanar, the production opens Friday, April 24 and runs through May 17, closing out the Company's Downtown Baltimore season.
CSC's The Tempest is a mystical story shaped by redemption and the possibility of forgiveness. Exiled from his dukedom, Prospero lives on an enchanted island with his daughter, Miranda. When those who betrayed him are shipwrecked within his reach, he is given a rare chance to settle old wounds, forcing a choice between retribution and release.
"I love the world of magic and fantasy that Shakespeare has created. We're creating a world full of exotic creatures and unlikely events,” writes Gallanar, whose shaping of CSC has been defined by inventive stagings of Shakespeare's canon that blends the classical text with bold, visual storytelling. Gallanar is staying true to that practice, approaching The Tempest as both an intimate human drama and a fun, immersive theatrical event.
Central to this world of whimsy is its fully realized design. Rather than a traditional tropical setting that this story typically renders, Set Designer Shartoya R. Jn. Baptiste transforms the stage into a rocky, otherworldly landscape—plunging audiences directly into Prospero's domain. Layering onto that vision, Resident Costume Designer Kristina Lambdin's signature craftsmanship coupled with Puppet Master Chris Reuther's fabrication of original fantastical creatures evokes a dreamscape that is mesmerizing and wholly unexpected.
In keeping with CSC's commitment to artistic invention, the production offers nearly every element of live performance. Completely original music—developed and owned by CSC—underscores the action, while movement and dance animate spirits and elemental beings. Puppeteers share the stage with actors, conjuring a surreal environment where the supernatural is depicted with visceral texture.
The cast blends longtime CSC artists with performers new to the Company. Christopher Marino, a veteran of regional stages and Shakespeare festivals—and director of CSC's third production back in 2003—commands Prospero, with Selah Kreeger making her CSC debut as his daughter, Miranda. Vince Eisenson returns to the CSC stage as Caliban for the first time since appearing in Hamlet in 2023, with a career spanning theatre, film, and television. Company members Gregory Burgess, Dawn Thomas Reidy, and Shakill Jamal—most recently seen this season in A Christmas Carol and August Wilson's Fences—appear alongside CSC's Executive Producing Director Lesley Malin. Gabriel Alejandro joins his fellow Company members following last season's Julius Caesar In-The-Ruins production. With deep ties to Shakespeare and extensive work across the Company's repertoire, this eclectic ensemble builds on a shared foundation while welcoming new energy into the production.
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