Bring your family (and your storm gear in case of a tempest) to see Moraine Valley Community College’s outdoors summer production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” July 30-August 1, and stay at the nearby and affordable Best Western Suites Midway Hotel!
Everyone should experience an outdoors Shakespeare production. “The Tempest” is a highly accessible play for people from age teen and above. This free production will sate your thirst for Shakespeare!
The plot: Having been stranded on an island with his three-year-old daughter Miranda, Prospero, the rightful Duke, plots to restore the grownup Miranda’s title. His spirit friend Ariel helps with the proceedings. He uses magic and manipulation to create a monster storm to shipwreck his evil brother Antonio and the bad King of Naples, in order to reveal their duplicity.
This sounds like tame stuff, but in Shakespeare’s day, magic was punishable by death. His audience would have been spellbound. Remember the great sci-fi film classic, “Forbidden Planet,” starring Walter Pigeon? That was “The Tempest” as a space opera. Rent the 1990 film “Prospero’s Books (caution: a ton of nudity), or the 2010 “The Tempest” starring the great Helen Mirren as “Prospera,” in preparation for seeing the live production.
Moraine Valley Community College is located at 9000 West College Parkway in Palos Hills. For more information, call (708) 974-5500.
The Best Western Inn Suites Midway Hotel, just minutes from the Moraine Valley Community College Theatre, offers affordable guest rooms, free breakfast, an indoor swimming pool, hot tub and a fitness center. Special AAA rates are available. Call the property direct at (708) 497-3000.