The Tempest

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Leo Lion

On a wooded island populated by sprites and spirits, an old exiled alchemist hides away, plotting his revenge. A terrible storm wrecks a nearby ship, tossing the surviving passengers onto the isle. Wandering through the lush forests and open fields, the inhabitants of the island and the newly-arrived travelers begin to find each other and to lose themselves, weaving a tangled web of ties that only wisdom and love can untwine.

Firebird revisits Shakespeare’s final comedy, The Tempest, bringing to the forefront the ties that keep us tethered and pull us asunder. From servitude to love, from debt to friendship to family, the ways in which we are fastened to each other are sometimes the only way we can find ourselves. Meanwhile, the ways in which we are bound, and the baggage we tie to ourselves, make us ever heavier and pull us down toward the depths. On this visit to Prospero’s Isle, we ask you: What do you hold onto when the storm hits? And will it hold you?

The Tempest performed August 17–19th, 2018, at the Alchemical Theatre Laboratory in NYC. The production marked the premiere of a newly-adapted script by Leo Lion and Zoe Senese-Grossberg.

The Tempest received a National Youth Arts Award in 2018 for Outstanding Direction, along with two nominations for Ensemble and Supporting Performance (Max Kropf as Caliban).