Trip out in your finest tie-dye this Friday night, August 17 for a free performance of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. By Jeff Spry  

The players of Innovation Theatre Works present a vivid reimagining of the Bard’s final play, The Tempest, reborn at the wild and crazy site of the Woodstock rock festival in 1969. A flashback set of classic rock tunes by The Band, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash will be incorporated into the tale of a shipwrecked magician Prospero, his willful daughter Miranda and the calculating man-demon Caliban, son of evil witch Sycorax.  

The Tempest blends the best elements of Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies and rolls them up into an exhilarating tapestry bursting with storms, fairies, sea creatures, kings, drunken demons, revenge, forgiveness and true love.  Innovation’s version will be dropped into one of the most defining moments of the 20th century, incorporating the music, atmosphere and celebration that was Woodstock, often referred to as an island of humanity unto itself. Come see the collision of words and worlds in a classic mash-up perfectly suited to our modern circumstances and tastes.  

Innovation Theatre Works is Central Oregon’s only regional professional theatrical organization, housed at the new Bend Performing Arts Center.  A devilish host of surprises and magical spells await the audience as they are transported back to those psychedelic days through the mesmerizing iambic pentameter of England’s greatest playwright. Their set design for The Tempest will mirror the rolling hills of upstate New York where the muddy madhouse of Woodstock took place.  

The play starts at 7pm and admission is free. Innovation Theatre Works encourages everyone to come with blankets, lawn chairs, picnic baskets and coolers but no alcohol is allowed. For more information call 541-504-6721.