A severe storm warning has been issued for Porky’s Café, 50 Center St. in Shelton for Thursday evening, Oct 29 at 7 p.m.
That’s when Valley Shakespeare Festival will present its version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a tumultuous tale of a ship wrecked on an enchanted island and the trials and tribulations experienced by its hapless survivors.
The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most performed works and has even been adapted for the silver screen many times. Possibly the best known of these is the 2010 version directed by Julie Taymor and starring, among others, Helen Mirren, David Strathairn, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper and Alan Cummings.
Another well-known version, though probably not associated with Shakespeare’s work by most, is the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen. The setting was moved from a remote island to outer space, the characters’ names changed, but the story is still the same.
Everyone knows that West Side Story is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and by now most everyone knows that The Lion King is Disney’s version of Hamlet. But did you know that the movie industry has always borrowed extensively from the Bard for film fodder? For example, the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 movie Throne of Blood is an adaptation of Macbeth and his 1985 Ran is his version of King Lear. The 1983 comedy Strange Brew starring Rick Moranis is MGM’s take on Hamlet, and 1988’s Big Business starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin is really Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. And it doesn’t end there! John Turturro played a character based on Macbeth in 1990’s Men of Respect; Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix played versions of Prince Hal and Poins in director Gus Van Sant’s 1991 My Own Private Idaho, an adaptation of the Bard’s Henry IV and Henry V. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger went at it as Katherina and Patrick (Katherina and Petruchio) in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You, aka The Taming of the Shrew; and Channing Tatum and Amanda Bynes played out the Twelfth Night roles of Duke Orsino and Viola in 2006’s She’s the Man.
So, for those of you who maybe think Shakespeare is a little too ancient and cerebral to be great fun, take another look … you may just be surprised to find that you’ve already been enjoying him for quite some time and not even known it! And now you can see it live, up close and very personal, in a great venue thanks to Valley Shakespeare Festival and Porky’s Café right here in our very own Valley.
If you’ve never experienced Shakespeare in a bar (or never experienced him at all!), you haven’t seen Shakespeare! Admission for the performance is $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Doors open at 6pm, free pizza courtesy of Porky’s at 6:30, performance begins at 7:00.
Visit www.vsfestival.org or call 203 – 513-9446 for more information and ticket purchase.
Valley Shakespeare Festival is a 501©(3) non-profit theater company serving the communities of the lower Naugatuck Valley.
