Date: January 5, 2023
I confess I don’t get to the theatre as much as I would like. However, when the ticket was purchased for Lesley and me to go the Round House Theatre, I seized the moment.
Now the Round House Theatre is about forty minutes away by car. The show was William Shakespeare’s Tempest. Now for those whose interest in Shakespeare was destroyed by a dreadful teacher of English Literature at High School, this is performance that you should watch. It is extraordinary. In this adaptation, you get a magic show, superb music, and the story told which such clarity that anyone can understand what is happening.
As I watched the Tempest I was reminded afresh of Shakespeare’s analysis of human nature. On one level, there are good people and bad people; on another level, everyone is complex. It is a play for our moment. Understanding the complexity of us all is a message that we all need to hear.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and President of General Theological Seminary