*****

Part of the joy of the Fringe is meeting people and making friends from all over the world. Aurora / WSCU from the USA is one of these groups I look out for Sal Trapani director and creator of the original music and Liz Popel the production designer in particular are close.

They tend to specialise in adaptations of Shakespearian plays adding a more musical slant. 2009's offering is the spectacular "The Tempest: A Musical Enchantment", and enchanting it is on so many levels. It started off beautifully with the shipwreck and just went from strength to strength. The musical numbers range from the ethereal to the bawdy.  Each characters usual traits magnified by the personality of the students in the role.  Sticking relatively closely to the original text the subtle adaptations and alterations adding to the mysticism and magic.

It is fairly obvious I really enjoyed this whole show and as yet I have not mentioned the performers. The abundance of raw talent on that stage was a little overwhelming. Each one as good if not better than the last only restricted by the text and musical numbers. With 20 members of cast plus all the technical staff I wont name them yet but will put up the names when I get some time as I am sure we will see some of them in lights in the future.

If this is what we get after tempests could we have more please?

*****

The Tempest  -  A Musical Enchantment

Company: -  Aurora / WSCU

Venue: -  Sweet ECA     V

Dates: -  16th  to  30th  August 2009  not  25th

Times: -   14-45  to  16-00

Fringe Programme Page:  p177