In the whole of Shakespeare’s canon, it’s hard to think of a better candidate for a sci-fi adaptation than “The Tempest,” the Bard’s late-career tale of a vengeful magician and his daughter, stranded on a remote island with strange inhabitants. Swap the male sorcerer for a powerful female engineer and the island for an inhospitable planet, and voilà, you have the recipe for the latest world premiere by Otherworld Theatre, Chicago’s only theater company dedicated to science fiction and fantasy.
“Prospera” is adapted and directed by Tiffany Keane Schaefer, Otherworld’s founding artistic director and the creative force behind the company’s recent hit, “Twihard! A Twilight Musical Parody.” Unlike that comedic piece of unabashed fan service, “Prospera” strikes a more serious tone; there’s some humor baked into the script, but at its core, the play is an earnest effort at a high-concept Shakespeare retelling.
Though the idea is compelling, the execution is shaky. The script is overburdened with exposition, yet the world-building left me confused about key points, and the uneven character development made it difficult to feel invested. The acting is a mixed bag as well, with a few stronger performances standing out from the rest.
Schaefer’s production design (set, props, costumes and sound) works within the constraints of a storefront budget to capture the dilapidated state of Halcrya-3, the planet where Prospera (Stacey Lind) lives in exile with her daughter, Miri (Izzi King). Their wrecked spaceship, named Tempest, wouldn’t look out of place in the grungier episodes of mid-2000s “Doctor Who,” while Mike McShane’s lighting design draws on a genre-appropriate palette of electric blues and greens.
As we learn through flashbacks, Prospera hails from the nation of Roma Prime, where she previously served as the admiral of a flotilla that houses its citizens, who are seeking a replacement for their dying planet. When her ambitious research into wormhole technology falls afoul of Roma Prime’s other leaders — a downfall largely instigated by her brother and second in command, Andarin (Jacob Watson) — Prospera is convicted by a tribunal and loses her wife, Sybil (Janice Rumschlag), in an attempted escape, only making it out with their infant daughter.
Twenty years later on Halcrya-3, Miri has grown into a curious, intelligent young woman who loves Prospera but dreams of independence from her mother’s control. The family’s two sole companions also long for freedom: Ariel (Rumschlag), an artificial intelligence that Prospera has crafted in the image of her late wife, and Kai-Lune (Blake Marion Hood), a member of the planet’s native race, the Sycoraxians. When Andarin unwittingly flies too close to Halcrya-3 on a diplomatic mission, Prospera orchestrates a storm in order to ground his ship and enact her revenge. From here, the story proceeds through a series of scheming manipulations, quirky flirtations and deadly confrontations.
While the broad arc of “The Tempest” will be familiar to many theatergoers, this version packs in so much world-building and backstory that the pacing often drags. Plus, character motivations tend to be hazy, especially in the case of Prospera. However, the script does include a few poetic gems that sound straight out of a sci-fi novel, such as the young officer Dax (Hayden Lane-Davies) describing his chaotic yet beautiful home flotilla as “a riot of primates refusing to die.”
In a romantic subplot between Dax and Miri, Lane-Davies shares most of his scenes with King, who gives one of the more convincing and entertaining performances of the entire cast. Having never met another human besides her mother, Miri makes flustered, endearing attempts to interact with her new acquaintance, whom she finds quite handsome. As she and Dax awkwardly flirt, Ariel’s robotic voice narrates the biological symptoms of their “primitive mating subroutine,” much to Miri’s consternation.
Other noteworthy performances include Watson as Andarin, who makes a smarmy antagonist, and Sydney Ginter, doing double duty as young Prospera and Rashida, Andarin’s contact from the wealthy nation of Tunis. Though she only has one brief scene, the gold-clad Rashida gives off a delightfully suave menace, punctuated by the clacking of her wickedly sharp finger extensions. Hood also does a fine job as Kai-Lune, who represents an extraterrestrial take on Caliban, with an emphasis on the power dynamics inherent in resource-oriented colonialism.
Despite these enjoyable side characters, a major missing piece is a dynamic arc for the title role. The source material’s themes of justice and forgiveness are present in Otherworld’s version, but the resolution feels abrupt and the ending goes off in an odd direction. For a play titled “Prospera,” there should be a bit more, well, Prospera.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.
Review: “Prospera” (2 stars)
When: Through Feb. 8
Where: Otherworld Theatre Company at Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Ave
Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Tickets: $30 at theaterwit.org
