Oakland Theater Project Begins 10th Anniversary Season With THE TEMPEST

Oakland Theater Project celebrates its 10th Anniversary and launches the 2022 Season: In the Eye of the Storm with in-person performances of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by Executive Co-Artistic Director Michael Socrates Moran.

The production will be staged at OTP's Oakland Theater at FLAX art & design (1501 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland, CA), February 18-March 13.

This contemporary re-imagining of the Shakespearean classic explores the ways in which we are exiled in today's world because of the cycle of our history. In many ways, as Americans, we all currently reside on Caliban's island.

"Shakespeare has become a repeated ritual in our culture, and we begin at the end of the play and engage in Caliban and Miranda's re-telling of this timeless tale," says OTP Co-Artistic Director Michael Socrates Moran, "The question becomes whose story is it? Who gets to re-tell our history? How are we caught in the cycle of history we see play itself out on this strange island? And, is it true that the only way to escape the nightmare of our history is through dreams of love and forgiveness?"

Oakland Theater Project's production will explore how the cycle of history often operates in a mirrored way through the doubling of characters and production design. Every actor will play at least two characters but, perhaps the most notable doubling is Miranda playing Antonio and Caliban playing Prospero. By having Caliban play Prospero, and seeing this play through his eyes, we are able to explore the famous themes of power, magic and storytelling from The Tempest in a new light. Instead of a top-down paradigm, we view this play from one that is bottom-up. The question of colonization that haunts this play is brought to bear through Caliban wrestling with what it means to be free not only of Prospero's power over him, but of the intoxicating power he wields when he gets to become him.

In our production, just as Prospero must finally renounce his power, Caliban must renounce the intoxicating draw of getting to put on Prospero's magical robes and wield Prospero's power. And, after doing so, can Caliban ever be free?

Esteemed Bay Area actor Adrian Roberts plays both Caliban and Prospero and brings extraordinary grace, gravitas and danger to both of these roles. Abril Centurion makes her Bay Area professional debut with a wild Miranda and sinister Antonio. And beloved and brilliant Oakland Theater Project Company Members round out our ensemble with Benôit Monin, Nathaniel Andalis, Kevin Rebultan, Sharon Shao, Romeo Channer, and Carla Gallardo.

"The Tempest itself exists as a seminal work in the western canon, this production hopes to explore how we can make sense of the canon itself," says director Michael Socrates Moran. "The guiding hypothesis is that there is a paradox at the core of producing classics, which is that in interrogating and challenging such works, we actually keep classics alive and renew their ongoing relevance today in ways that might become much wilder than our pre-conceived notions would allow."

Oakland Theater Project concluded its drive-in theater model in 2021 and has returned to performing back inside its theater. Oakland Theater Project continues to produce live performances during a pandemic while keeping a strong commitment to safety for our staff and community. To promote safety and comply with the City of Oakland's new vaccination guidelines, Oakland Theater Project will require all audience members to provide proof of vaccination to gain entrance to our theater. Audiences are no longer able to provide a negative COVID-19 test to gain entry to the theater. Staff and audiences will be required to wear masks at all times while indoors and additional safety measures include air purification and limited theater seating will be in place. All productions will be offered with a livestream component if an individual is unable to attend a performance.

Tickets at oaklandtheaterproject.org/brilliant or by calling 510.646.1126.

General admission tickets are $27-$37 (seating assigned upon arrival to theater), priority viewing tickets with reserved seats are $52; and pay-what-you-can tickets ($10-$20) will be available for every performance. All tickets will be sold online until 2 hours before each performance.