Honoring the greatest playwright of the English language, while reimagining the oeuvre for the 21st century, requires a delicate balance of respect and invention. The Denver Center Theatre Company has achieved just that in their current production of The Tempest. From outstanding performances, staging in the round, to period costumes, the Bard is honored and celebrated. Adding depth and connection to our times, the Denver Center creative team gently adds a bit of contemporary whimsy to support the storytelling and enhance the experience. It does not distract but amplifies. This production enlightens and satisfies. It is a wonder.
A full roster of energetic performances from a talented troupe give life to The Tempest. A few merit special callouts.
Jacqueline Antaramian plays Prospera, and she gives a consistently powerful performance. Her delivery of the lines offers nuance and feeling, helping me absorb the meaning. She has the commanding presence to provide the fulcrum around which the entire play revolves.
Erika Soto is pure magic as Ariel, using the language of her body’s movements to make the idea of a magical sprite believable. She is of another world, light and airy, and her costume is fantastical feather fun.
Moses Villarama as Caliban, masterfully delivers a counterpoint to Ariel, with a sinewy performance of a wretched and frightful soul, bound to the dirt. His performance artfully earns our revulsion, pity, and affection for his miserable life as a slave to Prospera. I could not help but think of Gollum from the Tolkien universe. His costume is delightfully fearsome- but I do wish there had been smudges of “mud” on his body, hair, and worn-out sandals to emphasize the pitiable squalor of his existence.
Both Janiah-Camile Francois (Miranda) and Alistair Toovey (Ferdinand) excel as starry-eyed young lovers. Alistair makes the most of his opportunities for physical comedic play, delivering good laughs; Janiah’s physical performance is a bit limited, perhaps by the Bard’s text, but her presence and line delivery are perfection.
Rob Nagle (Stephano) and Sean Scrutchins (Trinculo) are a genius comedic pairing. Rob delivers hilarity from the moment he steps foot on stage, and Sean’s goofiness is delightful (his scene with Caliban and a tarp is comedic gold!).
Unlike any other Shakespeare play in my (rather limited) experience, there is a live musician on stage at all times, providing periodic musical insights to the characters. Sarah Statler is that musician, and she contributes beautiful atmosphere with her ethereal voice and keyboard. Adding a touch of Jazz and classics of The Great American Songbook to a 400-year-old play may seem ridiculous but somehow it works beautifully. Music expresses the human condition, so it bridges time from the Old Globe Theater of bawdy 17th century London to our own tempestuous times here in 2026 Denver. Brilliant!
The genius mind of Costume Designer Kevin Copenhaver is on full display in this show. Unlike today’s “dude bro” eyesore uniform of shorts, flips flops and baseball caps, the wardrobe of men of means in this play are a feast for the eyes: richly adorned in layers of ruffly lace, strapped sleeves, brocaded vests, pants festooned with strips of colorful fabric, and knee-high laced-leather boot covers. The three female characters are each uniquely dressed to express the inner workings of their character: a flowy robin’s egg blue diaphanous dress, a wild punk-rock assemblage of color and materials, an androgenous powersuit carefully tailored in white leather.
Additional Thoughts About The Tempest
The Kilstrom Theater provides a theater in the round experience, creating an intimate atmosphere. It limits set design but amps up the imagination of the audience. From the opening scene aboard a ship in a tempest, sailors screaming and struggling to hold the sails aloft, fighting the wind and waves as their bodies rock in unison, my brain was ignited to imagination. With each crack of thunder and lightning bolt I could feel the salty spray on my face, waves crashing against hull, terror of drowning in the briny depths. Being so close to the actors you can touch them – but do not – is thrilling, too. The intimacy is so powerful and pulls you into the new world playing out on stage.
Admittedly, it has been a while since my last Shakespeare play, and the torrent of language was shocking and exhausting. My 2026 ear struggled to make sense of the language that sounded familiar but was not my own. Much dialog was lost in this tsunami of the spoken word but much did land and was so invigorating to hear. Unlike today’s daily exchanges there is inventive imagery and joyous phrasing in the Bard’s plays. Resist the resistance your mind may have; relax, and free your mind and ear to take it all in. Eventually, your brain will capture the essence and appreciate the poetry of the language. Oh, and read the play description in the program ahead of time – it helps make sense of what is happening, and why! My only complaint was that I could not hear Antaramian’s words when she wasn’t facing my direction (a problem I didn’t have with the other actors) and I didn’t want to miss a single word she had to say.
Considered Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest offers reflections of a powerful older person coming to grips with the choice they made in life. For our age of gerontocracy, this play provokes powerful questions. How will our elders leave this earthly coil? Will their legacy be one of love, forgiveness, and redemption – or of vengeance? Let them all look to Prospero’s contemplation for wisdom:
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on: and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest runs through Nov. 1 in the Kilstrom Theatre. Stay for a free post-show discussion on Oct. 13 and 27. And an ASL Interpreted and Audio Described performance is held on Oct. 11. Tickets can be purchased here.
-By Jimmy McDonough
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