Actually, the weather was clear, hot and muggy for Thursday night's performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest at APT. There were no medical emergencies to put a damper on the evening, and so we were all transported by the magic of the play.

And magic there was, provided by Jonathan Gillard Daly's deposed Duke Prospero. (I last saw JGD playing yet another deposed Duke, Senior in As You Like It.) Daly, who bears a resemblence to Sam Waterson, played Prospero both with great dignity, but with a twinkle in his eye. Magic also sang to us in the form of Colleen Madden's Ariel. Far from a "hyperactive child straight for ballet class", Madden carried a sense of peace even in her most frantic moments.

The vile three, Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio were ably portrayed by David Daniel, Kenneth Lee, and Michael Huftile. Daniel's turn as the King was the first of his roles that I thought he brought across of sense of maturity...perhaps it was the beard. Huftile's Usurper provoked an urge to hiss. Brain Robert Mani balanced this rabble with the kind and noble Gonzalo.

The clowns clowned well. Christopher Marshall gave Caliban the faintest thread of sympathy in his savagery. Matt Tallman and Gerard Neugent as Trinculo and Stephano bobbed and weaved their boorish way across the island, inciting fits of giggles with every step.

Matt Schwader and Kimberly Irion, as the lovers, were quite sappy, as all of Shakespeare's comedy lovers tend to be--mooneyed and gushing. Very sweet, with a touch of the silly.

Kudos also go to the costuming. I really want a pair of boots like Antonio's. Hot damn!