'The Tempest' Opens Aug. 30 at Coronado Playhouse

Music, mayhem, magic, pranksters and romance intermingle to beguile and entertain the audience in The Tempest, Shakespeare’s final play. 

The Tempest, the 17th annual free Coronado Shakespeare production opens Aug. 30 at the Coronado Playhouse.

Keith Anderson, founder of the Coronado FREE Shakespeare, directs and Mary Anderson produces the show which runs Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sept. 22. 

Exiled magician Prospero (Martin White), aided by his mischievous sprite Ariel (Mary Volpe Dawson), conjures a storm to wash ashore the very conspirators who forced him from Milan. 

Shipwrecked for 12 years on this island with only his daughter Miranda (Kirsten Neiman) and island creatures including the half-fish/half man Caliban (Ron Marchand), Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, uses his magic to control the actions of his brother Antonio (Marty Greenberg) who usurped his title as Duke of Milan with the help of Alonso, King of Naples (Eric Hedberg). 

Accompanying the conspirators are Gonzalo (Dave McCann), the aged advisor who managed to help Prospero before the shipwreck, and Alonso’s villainess sister, Sebastiana (Nicole Brokaw). Alonso’s son Ferdinand (Paul Lewallen) separated from the other nobility through Prospero’s planning, falls in love with Miranda the moment he sees her.

Drunken sailors (Nathan Boyer & Frank Godinez), young lovers, plotting nobility, strange and magical island creatures Ariel, Caliban, and numerous singing sprites (Sabrina Boudreaux, Jessie Hyder, Cecily Keppel, Marie Shelton, Katie Umlor) lead everyone on a journey of love, laughter, pranks, and forgiveness. Miranda gasps, “O brave new world that has such people in it.”

Designers of the magical isle include: Raylene J. Wall (set), Dale Goodman (lights), Steve Murdoch (sound), and Mary Anderson & Jane Russell (costumes). Rachel Mink directs the pre-show entertainment with the help of musical director Marie Shelton.

Tickets are free. 

A minimum $5 donation per ticket is encouraged to help cover production costs. Reserve free tickets online at www.coronadoplayhouse.com; for large groups, contact the box office at boxoffice@coronadoplayhouse.com or 619-435-4856.

–Information provided by the Coronado Playhouse.