HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

ARCHIVED REVIEW – FEBRUARY 2000

ROUGHER MAGIC BY ROBERT MOORE

Staged in February 2000 @ Memorial Hall, UNB, Fredericton, NB
Staged in February 2000 @ SJHS Little Theatre, Saint John, NB

CAST/CREW
Prospero – Christopher Stacey
Caliban – Scott Shannon
Miranda #1 – Crystal Lee (Fredericton run)
Miranda #1 – Debbie Gray (Saint John run)
Miranda #2 – Marissa Allison
Miranda #3 – Andrew Jones
Ariel – David Thorne
Ferdinand – Matty Warnock

Director – Robert Moore
Technical Director – Gerry Briggs

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REVIEW:
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Rougher Magic weaves age-old intrigue:
Shakespearean classic The Tempest given new adaptation

Rougher Magic poster

The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Friday, February 11, 2000
Byline: Richard Anderson
Length: 673 words

Nasty Shadows Theatre Company opened a three-day run of Rougher Magic at Memorial Hall, UNB, last night. It was an ambitious play with a clever script packed with literary references, some really meaty roles, and tightly-coordinated sound and lighting effects.

Director and playwright Robert Moore and his cast brought it off with panache. The title itself is a reference to Prospero’s speech in Act 5, near the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, where he renounces the “rough magic” given him by the spirit Ariel, that allowed him to rule the island upon which he, his daughter Miranda, and others were shipwrecked by a storm.

Certainly, the use of the title Rougher Magic implies deference to the genius of “The Bard.” But Moore’s script, a reworking of The Tempest, is intriguing. Shakespeare’s cast is pared down to Prospero, Miranda and the monster/slave Caliban, with Ariel and Ferdinand, Miranda’s suitor, in supplemental roles.

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© 2000 The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)