The Tempest Storms into Roosevelt Island

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On Saturday evening, August 11, 2007, I was able to attend about the first half hour of The Tempest staged at the Eastwood Amphitheatre at home on Roosevelt Island. I should be upfront that I have never been a big fan of Shakespeare and probably last read and attended a play by him back in college.

I am in no way qualified to critique the performance and I will not try to do so here. But as a fan of home grown productions I can say I enjoyed each minute I attended this production.

I had been told by island residents with far more years than I that any production given at the Amphitheatre especially without amplification is doing so at their own peril. I can say that the players did very well in this regard despite what my inadequate camera picked up for sound. My short video provided above showcases a few of the players and I only wish I could have taped more and showcased their talents here for those not able to attend.

Julie White as producer should be congratulated as well should be Michael Flanagan the director of this production as they battled the possibility of being rained out on Friday, August 10th but they hung on and gave their all by all reports despite the drop in temperature that evening. They had a much better evening on Saturday night and I am sure the players were thankful for it. The crowd appeared very much into the performance.

I can say that almost any production or cultural event I have attended here on Roosevelt Island has been well supported by the community and that is a credit to RIRA and the organizations putting on these events. As this play was an experiment I can say from an outsiders point of view it was a success and I expect we will be seeing future productions from this group.