The Tempest at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare's final solo-written play arrives at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in a production that is by turns enchanting, funny, visually stunning, and genuinely moving. Director Ian Gallanar brings The Tempest to life with a spirit of wonder and a keen eye for the emotional core of the text, closing out the company's 2025/2026 indoor mainstage season with a show that feels like a gift to its audience.
For those coming to the play fresh, the story follows Prospero, a duke who was overthrown and cast away to an enchanted island with his young daughter Miranda. Years later, using the island's magic, he conjures a great storm to shipwreck the enemies who wronged him. What unfolds is a tale of revenge that softens into mercy, of manipulation that yields to love, and of a father's fierce devotion to the one person he holds most dear. Gallanar leans into that paternal tenderness as the production's emotional through-line, and it gives the evening a warmth that distinguishes it from more severe interpretations of the text.
Christopher Marino plays Prospero not as a cold puppet-master but as a deeply human father, protective, conflicted, and ultimately generous. His command of Shakespeare's dense verse is matched by a physical ease that makes the character feel real and present rather than theatrical. When he watches from the upper tier of the set as his daughter Miranda begins to fall for Ferdinand — his face cycling through amusement, alarm, and quiet pride — it is one of the most endearing moments of the night. Selah Kreeger brings a luminous innocence to Miranda, her movements light and instinctive, her scenes with Marino radiating an authentic familial bond.
Noah Haren is a revelation as Ariel, the island spirit bound to Prospero's service. Splendidly costumed with sweeping wings that manage to feel both majestic and unsettling, Haren brings a layered complexity to the role — graceful and expressive, with flashes of mischief and genuine longing threading through every scene. The relationship between Ariel and Prospero becomes one of the production's most nuanced dynamics, laced with unequal power and the fragile weight of promises made and kept.
On the comic side of the island, Shakill Jamal as Trinculo and Matt Harris as Stephano are an absolute joy. The two play off one another with the energy of a classic comedy duo — Jamal working in big, expressive physicality while Harris mines every moment for maximum facial absurdity. Their scenes with Vince Eisenson's Caliban land with consistent delight. Eisenson brings something unexpected and thoroughly winning to the role: a creature with idiosyncratic, almost balletic movement and an undercurrent of genuine pathos. Watch him skitter and crouch around the stage and you understand how a performance can be both wildly funny and quietly heartbreaking at the same time.
Among the shipwrecked nobles, Dawn Thomas Reidy gives Alonso a stoic, grief-weighted dignity, while Gregory Burgess infuses Gonzalo with a radiating warmth and sincerity. Lesley Malin and Gabriel Alejandro round out the court with sharp, precisely-tuned performances. Drew Sharpe is an earnest and physically inventive Ferdinand, his youthful excitement over Miranda undeniably charming.
The world that contains all of this is a visual feast. Set designer Shartoya R. Jn. Baptiste has created a striking three-story structure that dominates the stage with an almost architectural grandeur, its upper tiers used to brilliant effect throughout — most memorably when Prospero conjures the apparitions of his past on the second level, bathed in Katie McCreary's evocative lighting. Mark Williams' projections cast shadowy, storybook figures across the backdrop, establishing an atmosphere of enchantment before a word is spoken. Sarah O'Halloran's immersive sound design wraps around the house, deepening that sense of being drawn onto the island itself.
Costume designer Kristina Lambdin's work deserves its own standing ovation. From Ariel's magnificent winged garb to the shimmering, aquatic transformation of Caliban's costume, every character is defined and elevated by what they wear. Wig and makeup design by Hannah Brill amplifies these effects further, and the results are consistently theatrical in the best possible sense.
One of the production's most inventive flourishes is its use of puppetry, crafted by Chris Reuther and brought to life by the four Wind Spirits — Aura Gallanar, Dorienne Hoven, Christina Krawec, and Mari Andrea Travis. These performers populate the island's edges with unearthly creatures of remarkable craftsmanship, and an early Act II sequence in which one of these creations interacts with Caliban is among the most purely delightful things on a local stage this season. Gallanar also makes good use of gender-expanded casting throughout, with two of the shipwrecked court roles portrayed by women, giving the political dynamics of the story a fresh and satisfying energy.
The Tempest is often considered Shakespeare's farewell to the stage, and Chesapeake Shakespeare Company honors that legacy with a production that is lyrical, warm, and beautifully crafted.