‘’ in Madison Bill Nutt, Correspondent May 23, 2014

Most people consider “The Tempest” (along with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) to be Shakespeare’s most magical play. Its characters include , an aging sorcerer, and his two supernatural servants, and .

But actor Sherman Howard feels that the real “magic” in “The Tempest” springs from a very human emotion: mercy.

“At its heart, this is a play about forgiveness,” says Howard, who is playing Prospero in the production that opens Wednesday, May 28.

“The Tempest” kicks off the 2014 season at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison. The production is directed by Bonnie J. Monte, the theater’s artistic director.

“We’re trying to focus on the underlying reality of the story,” says Howard. “We’re taking the psychology of the story literally.”

“The Tempest” occupies a special place in the Shakespearean canon. It is usually considered the last significant play the Bard wrote by himself.

Indeed, many scholars compare one of Prospero’s speeches renouncing of the sorcery that has served him so well to Shakespeare’s giving up writing for the theater.

“If you believe the scholars, this is a thinly veiled personal farewell to the stage,” Howard says. “Prospero surrenders the art of the magician, and that’s analogous to Shakespeare surrendering his quill.”

However, Howard says that he and Monte have chosen not to concentrate on that aspect of the character. Instead, he is playing Prospero as a man who has been wronged but who chooses to forgive his enemies.

“A lot of people have a shallow view of forgiveness,” Howard says. “You lick your wounds after you’ve been wronged, you wait until you feel better, and then you forgive.” “Real forgiveness is an act of will,” Howard continues. “You choose to forgive, and then maybe afterward, you’ll feel better.”

In the play, the audience learns that Prospero was betrayed by both his brother, , and by the king of Naples. Left to survive in exile, he retreats (with his daughter ) to a secluded where he learns the mystic arts.

The play begins when the title storm causes the wreck of a ship carrying (who else?) Ferdinand and the king, among others. Cast adrift on the island, they are, in a real way, at Prospero’s mercy.

“In the beginning, Prospero is in thrall to his bitterness and his resentment at what was done to him and to his daughter,” Howard says. “With great will, he reins in his passion.” Although Howard has never played Prospero in a full production of “The Tempest,” he is no stranger to working on the role with Monte.

A year ago, Howard was one of the actors that Monte assembled to perform a 20-minute version of “The Tempest.” Those brief scenes were accompanied by the New Jersey Symphony performing a score composed for the play by .

“That was our warm-up,” says Howard with a laugh.

Howard says that, for the full production, Monte is attempting to avoid the traditional use of stage magic tricks in “The Tempest.

“One of the pitfalls of this play is that people try to turn it into something like Cirque du Soleil,” he says.

“We’re trying to take a more realistic approach,” Howard says. “The ‘island’ that we’ve designed is not the typical island paradise. Our use of magic is more subtle. Ironically, we’re making the magic more real without the distraction of actual magic tricks.”