The Tempest
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rick Dildine
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
May 29, 2026
Zay Williams, Nancy Bell, Sigrid Wise, Eliza Pagelle
Photo by Phillip Hamer Photography
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
The Tempest at St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is a wild ride, with the audience brought along on a magical, musical journey of wonder, surprise, and emotion. It’s also a welcome return of a familiar theatrical force. Directed by former STLSF Artistic Director Rick Dildine and featuring a first-rate cast and eye-catching visuals, the show creates a memorable world onstage.
Unlike most (if not all) previous “Shakespeare in the Park” features at the festival, this Tempest runs in one extended act with no intermission. There’s also a fair amount of cutting to the script, trimming it down to focus on the heart of the story, and especially on exiled Duke of Milan Prospero (Nancy Bell), her daughter Miranda (Sigrid Wise) and young Prince Ferdinand (Zay Williams), who is shipwrecked along with his mother, Alonso the King of Naples (Kathryn A. Bentley), Prospero’s usurping brother Antonio (Jeff Cummings), and their entourage. Prospero, who has been stranded on the island with Miranda for twelve years, has caused the storm with magic, and with the help of the sprite Ariel (Eliza Pagelle) and a promise for the latter’s freedom, causes havoc among the shipwrecked newcomers, as well as testing Ferdinand, who is immediately and mutually smitten with Miranda. The story also features a subplot involving foolish royal servants Trinculo (José Sabillón) and Stephano (Michael Doherty), who team up with embittered island denizen Caliban (Chauncy Thomas) to kill Prospero and take over the island. There’s a lot of action going on here, but it’s blended together especially well here, with a wonderful throughline of music provided by music director Michael Grieve as the Boatswain and small band of players providing a traditional/folk influenced soundtrack to the proceedings that adds much to the overall vibe of the show. It’s a comedic focus, mostly, and it works especially well, with measured moments of drama sprinkled in for good measure.
The cast is excellent, led by Bell in a commanding but expertly measured performance as Prospero, whose whimsical tendencies are there, but balanced by a strong sense of care for her daughter as well as a weariness from being stranded on the island. Wise is also excellent as the somewhat naive Miranda, who is eager to learn about the wider world and is credibly attracted to Williams’s charming Ferdinand. The trio of Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban is ably played with impressive comic timing by Sabillón, Doherty, and the especially pouty Thomas. There are also strong villainous turns by Cummings as the scheming Antonio and Reginald Pierre as his would-be partner-in-crime Sebastian. Bentley makes for a fine Alonso as well, and Whit Reichert turns in an endearing performance as Prospero’s mentor and ally Gonzalo. As the eager sprite Ariel, Pagelle is full of vibrant energy and purposeful mischief. These players are also supported by a strong ensemble, making for a cohesive cast and smooth storytelling.
The visual world and overall atmosphere of the show is nothing short of wondrous, with a magnificent old-shipwreck set by Christopher Swader and Justin Swader that features many levels on which the cast can work, as well as dazzling lighting by Jeff Behm and well-choreographed sound by Melani Chen Cole that punctuates key moments in the story with palpable energy and emotion. There are also spectacular costumes by Kathleen Geldard in what appears to be an 18th Century style, and excellent props by Katherine Stepanek. Kudos also go to movement director Paul Dennhardt in coordinating the movements with the sound and the overall cohesive physicality of the production.
Overall, this Tempest is a lot of fun. It’s fast-moving, marvelously realized and ideally cast, bringing an overall sense of mystic wonder to the stage in Forest Park. It’s a marvelous piece of theatre, starting off the summer theatre season in St. Louis with energy and style.
José Sabillón, Michael Doherty, Chauncy Thomas
Photo by Phillip Hamer Photography
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is presenting The Tempest in Forest Park’s Shakespeare Glen until June 21, 2026
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