Among the Shakespeare Plays to be performed this summer in the Midwest is "The Tempest". The Michigan Shakespeare Festival will be performing "The Tempest" on July 14, 17, 19, 23, 25, and August 1st. To give you a little background on "The Tempest", I have included this very informative article.

The Tempest is the last complete play, which Shakespeare is believed to have written. In many ways it is unlike any other of his works. It is the only play, which faithfully observes the "unities" (time [less than 24 hours], place and plot-structure) described by Aristotle in his Poetics. The entire play (with the exception of the very first scene) is set on a fictional island, which almost seems alive with magic, both visual and aural. This dream-like setting provides the perfect atmosphere for the play's fantastical happenings.

While the island is a natural place, it is also otherworldly. By creating dream-like and semi-real images, Shakespeare evades representation of the world of materiality. This setting is utilized to explore themes ranging from social order and the supernatural to the conflict between 'civilized' man and nature. This can also be taken to represent the cruelty of the European colonists of the New World, which was beginning to become more accessible to settlers at the time the play was written. Few of Shakespeare's plays have plots so driven by the supernatural as The Tempest. Magic is the agent, which creates the conflict between the different characters or factions, but it is also the method by which the conflict is ended and Prospero achieves his goal. It can represent the characters denial of human rights and ignorance of the importance of uninfluenced human emotion, but also the dangers of self-indulgence and hunger for power. As well as being used to drive the plot and keep interest among the readers, it illustrates the basic themes of love, power and politics. Also, it helps us understand some deeper themes in the play, such as the blurring of the line