The current Shakespeare in Delaware Park production of “The Tempest” is a playful and magical affair. Under the direction of Saul Elkin with sound design and original music by Tom Makar, choreography by Terri Filips Vaughan and set by David Dwyer, we are transported to a wondrous island, where Prospero, the usurped duke of Milan and his daughter, Miranda, have been stranded for many years. When a ship carrying his enemies comes close enough to be within his power, Prospero uses magic and deploys his servant, Ariel, to wreck the ship on his shore, while keeping all its passengers safe.

Shakespeare sets the scene for a perfect revenge, and the bard certainly had delighted audiences with revenge many times before. In “Titus Andronicus,” his first tragedy, Titus feeds Tamara her own sons, baked into a pie. “Hamlet,” of course, ends with bodies strewn across the stage.

In “The Tempest,” however, the final play that Shakespeare wrote alone, he has other plans. “The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance,” says Prospero.

No injury will come to anyone in “The Tempest.” Rather than harm his enemies, Prospero scatters them across the island in confusion. Before he is done, treachery will be forgiven. Slaves will be freed. Lovers will be brought together. Fools will get their comeuppances comically.