Well, that was fast — fall has arrived, the temperature dropping from 90 to 60 like it had just spotted a state trooper, as some internet jokester has observed. The time is more than ripe for all of us to get out of town, explore the colors of the season, grab a half bushel of apples, and, of course, check out the new Fall Repertory at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia.  Leading off this season’s rep is The Tempest, Shakespeare’s swan song, in which Prospero, an exiled nobleman, washed up for years on a strange foreign isle, earns his way back home with his political powers restored. And he seems to manage this by way of his fantastical book learning (I mean, fall being back-to-school time, it seems fitting to remind our kids that books can sometimes have truly miraculous powers). Ronald Román-Meléndez as Caliban in ‘The Tempest.’ Photo by Madison Patterson. Co-directors Doreen Bechtol and Matt Radford Davies have created a magical world in the Blackfriars Playhouse. With their cast, led by the magisterial Angela Iannone as Prospero, we are given a tour of an exotic locale, and get to study the all-too-human goings-on of its inhabitants.  As the pre-show music fades away, we see Miranda, played with ebullient charm by Isabel Sanchez, waving hello to a ship she sees off in the distance, only to watch as it is suddenly engulfed in a storm staged in true Blackfriars passion, with ropes a-tangle and actors tossed every which way. That none of them will perish, and that they will survive to endure far greater personal challenges than a storm at sea, is of course the ultimate goal. Miranda’s shock and dismay are eased by her father’s assurances — to explain to her why the storm had to happen; however, Prospero also decides it is time for Miranda to learn of her true origins and her father’s long ordeal. Iannone’s Prospero — decked out powerfully by Elizabeth Wislar’s costumes — is a study in calm authority; the measured tone she adopts throughout this opening scene can be deceiving, because it is part and parcel with Prospero’s sober, carefully choreographed revenge on her persecutors. The story unfolds, of course, at numerous places on Prospero’s island — father is separated from son, son is separated from the rest, servants are separated from their masters. This creates the perfect setting for Shakespeare’s multiple plots to unfold, in parallel. Each shipwrecked party is brought out one by one, each with their own storyline. And the confusion that seems to reign in so many of the later plays (Cymbeline, anyone?) is here resolved with a masterly touch. TOP LEFT: Nick Ericksen (Ferdinand) and Isabel Sanchez (Miranda); TOP CENTER: Angela Iannone (Prospero); TOP RIGHT: Christopher Seiler (Duke Antonio of Milan) and Ronan Melomo (Sebastian); ABOVE: The Cast, in ‘The Tempest.’ Photos by Madison Patterson. Prospero guarantees that the nobility are isolated from the rest of their party — and we see that even on a desert island they’re still up to their old tricks. The conniving Duke Antonio of Milan (pronounced like “villain,” naturally), who had usurped Prospero years before, is played here with relish by Christopher Seiler; and he is no sooner safe on dry land than he plots another coup, on behalf of his companion Sebastian (Ronan Melomo, an able partner-in-crime), brother to King Alonso of Naples. That this plot is foiled by Prospero’s powerful spirit, Ariel — the sharp Isa Guitian, who soon busies herself putting out fires all over the island — is to be expected. This story of brothers plotting against brothers is contrasted nicely with a classic love-at-first-sight encounter between Miranda and Ferdinand, Prince of Naples. As Ferdinand, Nick Ericksen is every inch the romantic lead, but not without a moment of clumsy silliness so that we don’t get too dreamy-eyed about him.  For comic relief, it’s hard to beat the way Shakespeare sets up Morgan Rose Ford’s Trinculo and K.P. Powell’s Stephano. You’ve got a court jester and butler, washed up with a barrel of the good stuff to drink — having stumbled on with a barrel, they will of course stumble a long while to come. And Caliban’s discovery of this pair of drunkards and their divine liquor leads to some comical moments indeed. Which leads me to… The most striking element here is the treatment of Caliban, played here with wary resentment by Ronald Román-Meléndez. His Caliban draws strategically from Manuel Palazon Blasco’s Spanish translation La Tempestad, a nod to The Tempest‘s origins in fantastical tales of the New World, which had already filtered back to Shakespeare’s London. The mixture of English — directed toward Prospero Co. — and Spanish, spoken under his breath, creates a fascinating new dimension to the play. Half the point is that Caliban already had his own language; it was his own island after all; but he then had to learn the language of his colonial master in order to survive. That Román-Meléndez’s Caliban is entitled to his own language and — even more radically — his own thoughts is an apt reflection on the complicated legacy of the play, and of Europe’s presence in the New World. It seems fitting that Román-Meléndez opens the musical pre-show by serenading us with Juanes’ ballad “La Camisa Negra” (The Black Shirt), a song of betrayal that — although about a lover — seems to channel some of Caliban’s own resentment. Other memorable selections include K.P. Powell leading the audience in a rousing chorus of George Michael’s anthem, “Freedom,” followed by Isabel Sanchez singing Patty Griffin’s pensive “Row, Row, Row.” At intermission, the cast also pays homage to the late Dolly Parton with a beautiful version of “Islands in the Stream”; then, with ukelele in hand, Ericksen and Seiler team up to pay homage to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.”  The Blackfriars Playhouse has just celebrated its first 25 years in Staunton, and the ASC’s new production of The Tempest is a great way to show the company’s strengths. They have demonstrated how much is to be gained from a commitment to fun, lights-on theater. OK, so some will call it “original practices,” but let’s be clear: the original theaters of Shakespeare’s day were a helluva lot more fun than the black-box, lights-out, pseudo-Calvinist aesthetic of so many other playhouses these days. Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission. The Tempest plays through November 13, 2026, in repertory with David Catlin’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (through November 14) and Jen Silverman’s Witch (through November 14), presented by American Shakespeare Center at the Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 South Market Street, Staunton, VA. For tickets (starting at $39), call the box office at (540) 851-3400 or purchase them online. ASC also offers a Local Rush deal of 50% off tickets on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Learn more here. Cast and artistic team credits for The Tempest are online here. The fall season program is online here. ...read more read less