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ideas 3
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books 8 Bo vs. Carrie
You’ve made them for yourself and friends. You’ve been on the receiving end. The picking and choosing, the thematic structuring, the creative rearrangements — there’s something liberating and empowering about the whole mix tape process. These days a mixed cassette tape is more likely to come in the form of a CD-R or computer play list. But the song remains the same: “I am no mere consumer of pop culture … but also a producer of it.” Those words appear in “Mix Tape,” a newly published look at “the art of cassette culture.” We examine the book — and toss in a few bonus tracks — on the Ideas page, F3.
SUNDAY MAY 22 2005
Our take on “American Idol.” F4
SECTION
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Revenge of the readers Your views on “Star Wars.” F2
STORMY ROMANCE
In “The Tempest,” Shakespeare uses fantasy and magic to tell a tale of treachery and love. Text by JUDITH NEWMARK, Graphic by JOHN D. TELFORD St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“T
he Tempest” — William Shakespeare’s majestic romance exploring love, loyalty, freedom and, above all, the nature of human nature — comes to Forest Park as this year’s production from the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis. Under the direction of Russell Treyz, “The Tempest” opens on Friday, May 27, and runs through Sunday, June 19. Performances start at 8 p.m. in the natural amphitheater just to the east of Art Hill. “The Tempest” plays every night but Tuesdays. Preview performances begin at 8 on Wednesday and Thursday, May 25 and 26. For more details call the festival office at 314-361-0101. This is the festival’s fifth production. During its first four seasons, the festival has drawn over 154,000 theater-goers from all over the area, and beyond. Part of the appeal, of course, is the cost. Whether you already enjoy Shakespeare — the birthright of every English speaker — or want to find out if you do, the festival makes things easy: It’s open to the public, free of charge. The convenient, pleasant setting is another plus. Starting at 6:30, there’s pre-show entertainment every night — music, lectures, children’s activities, a quick “green show” version of the play that makes the story easy to follow. But many people come earlier than that (on a pretty weekend night, 4 p.m. Sebastian isn’t out of the question) to find a good spot Alonso’s for play-viewing. You can rent a chair to sit brother. Plots in, or bring a blanket to spread on the grass. to murder Many people bring picnics, or buy sandwiches Alonso and on the spot. There’s lot’s to do — and then, seize the of course, there’s “The Tempest.” throne. For all the info you need to make the most of your festival experience, check the Get Out section of the Post-Dispatch on Thursday, May 26.
“The Tempest” centers around Prospero, a former duke exiled to a remote island. Prospero creates a storm that shipwrecks his persecutors. Here are the main characters and their relationship to Prospero and each other:
g p stricken because he thinks his son is dead. Regrets conspiring with Antonio against Prospero.
Miranda Beautiful and innocent daughter of Prospero. In love with Ferdinand.
with Miranda anda. da
Antonio Pushed brother Prospero aside and seized dukedom.
Loves
Respects and loves
Respects Covets
Prospero Rightful Duke of Milan, exiled to island by Antonio. Prospero has great magic powers.
Plot to murder
Trinculo Alonso’s jester. Plots with Stefano to murder Prospero.
How it’s written
Agrees to help
Resents
Most of “The Tempest,” like most of Shakespeare’s plays, is written in iambic pentameter.
Stefano Alonso’s butler. Plots with Trinculo to murder Prospero.
Many actors consider that beat their friend. “Iambic pentameter” simply describes a rhythmic pattern. Iambs are two syllables: an unaccented syllable followed by a syllable that is stressed. For example, “aLAS!” is an iambic word. So are “inDEED,” “caRESS” and “aBLAZE.” It’s also easy to build an iambic foot from two words: “oh NO,” “my LORD,” “my LOVE.”
The plot in less than 60 seconds
Prospero’s farewell
1 foot
Some have suggested that many of Prospero’s lines echo the real-life sentiments of Shakespeare as his writing career was drawing to a close. Is Prospero Shakespeare’s stand-in? Today scholars are apt to dismiss that interpretation as too romantic, too reductive. But no one denies the haunting, elegiac tenor of Prospero’s great speech in Act IV, after he has staged a beautiful show to entertain Ferdinand and Miranda. Then Prospero compares the “insubstantial pageant” he created to nothing less than life. He says that we, like actors, are all the stuff of dreams.
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM than the later works. “The Tempest” focuses on magic — which the Englishmen of Shakespeare’s day often called “art,” the same word that we use now to describe, among other things, the theater on a magician so powerful and gifted that he can shape a world out of nothing at all.
5 feet (pairs) of 10 syllables Shakespeare’s sonnets provide excellent examples: “When, IN disGRACE with FORtune AND men’s EYES, I ALL aLONE beWEEP my OUTcast STATE…” The verse goes on from there, holding to its rhythm. Actors often say that’s no surprise. Many of them believe that iambic pentameter is the underlying rhythm of all English speech. If they are right, then Shakespeare and other playwrights who use the style give actors a built-in boost. Iambic pentameter makes lines easier to learn. Shakespeare, an actor himself, tells us what’s most important in each line; that’s where the stress falls. Shakespeare created some of the deepest stories and most complex characters ever to appear on stage. But he welcomes us to them as a friend, couched in a familiar rhythm we’ve known all our lives. In fact, the plot summary at right is written in iambic pentameter. Read it and see if you can follow the natural rhythm.
Ariel A spirit of the air who agrees to help Prospero if he will set Ariel free.
Caliban Prospero’s island slave. The offspring of a witch, he too conspires to kill P
“Pentameter” combines the Greek form for five (“penta,” as in Pentagon) with an another word, also Greek, for measure (“metron”). Put them together, and you have iambic pentameter: 10 beats to the line, with the stress on the even-numbered syllables. The result sounds something like a heartbeat:
Hates, envies
Loves
His darling child, Miranda, loves her dad; The spirit Ariel serves them with joy, And Caliban, who’s rough and strong, works hard. It’s really not so bad. And furthermore, A life of books suffices for this man. In solitude and study, he’s become A great magician. Prospero can make A storm break out upon the open sea. It sends a fine ship crashing to his shore. And who’s aboard? Alonso, Naples’ king!
Who never saw a man besides her dad. The wizard tests his mettle with hard work, But these young lovers satisfy all doubts. They’re meant to be together, and we know They’ll pledge their troth before the play is don Still, Caliban and others — who are fueled By strong wine and ambition — cook up plans. They plot to kill the wizard! Kill the king! But Ariel, a spirit who can fly, Hears what they say and takes the news back h
He helped the wizard’s brother seize his throne. Antonio – that brother – also sails, And so does handsome Ferdinand, the young And noble-hearted son Alonso loves. Sebastian, King Al’s brother, sails as well, And he talks to Antonio a lot! The king should pay attention; he’s not safe. Some servants also manage to make land And save red wine along with their own lives! The island must be vast, because these men Who all arrive at once, shipwrecked and lost, Can’t find each other once they come to shore.
Then Prospero has lots of work to do! He gives his daughter and her new-found love A party where good fairies sing and dance. He calls up magic dogs to scare the drunks, And he makes sure that King Alonso’s safe. It’s time for him to go back to Milan And Ariel to fly off, wild and free. It’s time to have a wedding for a prince And princess who can scarcely understand How much a shipwreck changed their lives and “O brave new world,” Miranda cries at last, “That has such people in’t.” And she’s right.
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capped tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.”
Shakespeare probably didn’t write that speech to say goodbye to us. We only wish he had.
Shakespeare’s plays Shakespeare’s plays follow a general pattern. In those written before 1600, histories or romantic comedies dominate. His plays after 1600 were often more complex. Most of these were tragedies, but he did write a handful of comedies and romances, including “The Tempest.” Specific details as to when Shakespeare composed many of his works are sketchy, but approximate timeframes have been determined. 1590
1595
1600
1605
1610
1590-91
1592
1594
1594-95
1596
1598
1599
1603-04
1606
1607-08
1609-10
Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Taming of the Shrew
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part 2
King John
The Merchant of Venice
Henry V
Othello
Macbeth
King Lear
Cymbeline
Julius Caesar
1604
1595
Richard II
As You Like It
Measure for Measure
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
1609-11
The Comedy of Errors
Antony and Cleopatra
1592-93 Richard III
Plays that have been performed at the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis
Titus Andronicus
Henry VI, Part III
1597
Henry IV, Part I The Merry Wives of Windsor
1600
Love’s Labour’s Lost
1601
All’s Well that Ends Well
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Henry IV, Part II
Twelfth Night
1605
1601-02
Timon of Athens
Romeo and Juliet
Much Ado About Nothing
Hamlet
Troilus and Cressida
1608
The Winter’s Tale
1614
1611 THE TEMPEST
1613 Henry VIII
1614 The Two Noble Kinsmen
Coriolanus
SOURCES: Oxford Shakespeare, Norton Shakespeare, CliffsNotes, “Essential Shakespeare Handbook,” Leslie Dunton-Downer and Alan Riding, DK Publishing (2004)