a parable of reconciliation

Returning to the Guthrie for the first time since 2015, former Artistic Director Joe Dowling helms this exciting new production of The Tempest, with Regina Marie Willaims in the gender-swapped role of sorcerer Prospea. An epic tale that weaves together themes of innocence, power, revenge, and redemption into a supernatural and whimsical spectacle of poetic prowess, it's a crowd-pleaser that is now thought to have been Shakespeare's final farewell to the stage.

What is the story?

The Tempest opens with the fearsome storm of the title, in the midst of which the King of Naples' ship sinks and its poor inhabitants wash ashore. But it turns out the storm was no simple act of nature. Prospero, once the Duke of Milan, used his learned magic to unleash the furious forces when he learned the ship contained the enemies who usurped his rightful royal place. Revenge is a hair's breadth away, but will Prospero spare those who did not spare him?