At Thursday's opening night of Stage First's The Tempest, the Aronoff's Fifth Third Bank Theater was packed with high school students.

        What was laid out before them was a production that has the sturdy feel of educational theater.

        The action of the play is clearly put forward: Prospero (Bob Allen), banished a dozen years earlier from Renaissance Milan, has become ruler of an enchanted isle.

        Now he employs benign magic (nobody gets hurt) to raise a tempest and cause a shipwreck that brings past enemies (including his ambitious, murderous brother) to the island where old wounds are healed. Happily, he also finds a princely husband for his daughter Miranda.

        There is much low comedy liked a lot by some of the boys in the audience.

        If this strikes you as a dry but accurate telling of the plot, it very much reflects the production that is competent, on the level of an earnest performance by an average college theater department.

        While less than magical, it is the best entry to date in the current Stage First season.

        Director Greg Procaccino delivered a lively, occasionally loopy Hamlet last season for Stage First that remains memorable for some of its performances and plenty of original thinking.

        You can see the ambition here in the trimmings, as Mr. Procaccino works to create a sense of place through light and sound.

        But Tempest falters in its central character and its key relationships. Mr. Allen has fine line delivery, but he doesn't do enough to illuminate a hugely complex role. Prospero's relationships with his daughter (Natasha Randall) and enslaved sprite Ariel (Corinne Mohlenhoff) need to be both deeper and more clear.

        There's also the matter of presence. Mr. Allen is stately, but when he's off stage, it's too easy to forget that he is masterminding the events that could lead to revenge — or forgiveness.

        Where Mr. Procaccino succeeds is in creating the so-important sense of ensemble.

        He raises the performance level of several Stage First regulars. It's nice to see Ms. Randall venture forward from her typical ingenue role. (Although as young lovers, Ms. Randall and Brian Cade, don't seem to have a hormone between them.)

        Chuck Haungs takes a good-enough run at monstrous Caliban that it would have been exciting to see him dig even deeper for the pain, confusion and anger that drives him.

        Tempest continues Stage First's step up in design. Set designer Brent Hodge has been a real asset to the company. Tempest is anchored to long ramps and tattered flows of material that speak of shipwreck and a wild, mysterious landscape.

        A new partnership with Schenz Theatrical Supply has also improved Stage First's costuming.

        With any luck, Stage First has whetted the appetite of that young opening night crowd. Let's hope they won't check off the play as a been there/done that and will return to it in the future and discover the mystery, magic, heart and soul that has made The Tempest a play that has lasted for almost 400 years.
        The Tempest, through Feb. 10, Stage First, Aronoff Center Fifth Third Bank Theater, 241-7469.

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