THE TEMPEST, Shakespeare, RSC at Stratford till 1 November
THE TEMPEST: William Shakespeare
RSC Main House, Stratford, Tkts: 0870 609 1110
Runs: 2h 50m, one interval, in rep till 1 November
Review: Rod Dungate, 12 September 2002
Riveting, dreamlike, beautiful, the production has space to breathe, magical.An absolutely riveting production. The pace is measured, the space is open, the setting sparse, but the company breathe such life into the play you hold your own breath for fear of breaking the spell. Aerial choreography (both frightening and beautiful) confirms the dreamlike quality of the story as it unfolds. Michael Boyd's production has an emotional openness and physicality about it that reminds us of European theatre rather than British mainstream.
THE TEMPEST is the third of the late three Shakespeare plays to arrive in Stratford. All three are 'story' plays and the tone is clearly set for this one as Prospero relates to Miranda how they came to be on the island – each character is conjured into the space when mentioned. Their physical presence enables Prospero to give full vent to his rage. We are not surprised at seeing the King of Naples in full panoply – huge long train and ornate crown. We are surprised to see him, later, wandering the desert island like this though – and its very incongruity extends and strengthens the dream metaphor.
Malcolm Storry's Prospero is a revelation in its humanness. Storry is a powerful actor – he's a tall, solid bloke. Storry is also devoid of personal mannerisms, affectations and artifice. This Prospero is all too human, a potent mixture of vulnerability and terrifying power. His opening sequences with, first, Miranda, then with Ariel, then Caliban are all played at emotional full-throttle – the very air seems to vibrate. Storry's Prospero is like a wounded creature pulled this way and that by a confusion of multi-layered relationships – he wants to love, but he is remote, he wants to rule, but he loves his books. Witness the complexities he brings to his quietly passionate 'I'll break my staff,/ Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,/ And deeper than ever did plummet sound/ I'll drown my book.' As he takes his farewell of Ariel and Caliban he acknowledges the true depth of his relationships as he gives them both a deep, honest, emotionally charged bow. Fabulous.
Against this Prospero both Sirine Saba's Miranda and Kananu Kirimi's Ariel are dangerously fragile figures. Saba brings a purity and childlike innocence into the Prospero hot-house: an air of wonderment untainted by sentiment. Kirimi's Ariel is as mysterious, as hard to fathom, as she is hard to imprison – at one time a child, at another Prospero's teacher, at another a cornered animal, she is as mercurial as we would expect a spirit of the air to be. There is an electrifying danger in her partnership with Prospero.
Among the rest of this accomplished team Roger Frost's drunken Stephano and Simon Gregor's bundle of energy Trinculo bring much unforced humour to the evening while Jerome Willis demonstrates, in Gonzalo, a gentle honesty that offers the possibility of a firm platform for Miranda's 'brave, new world.'
Prospero: Malcolm Storry
Miranda: Sirine Saba
Ariel/Iris: Kananu Kirimi
Caliban: Geff Francis
Antonio: Brian Protheroe
Alonso: Keith Bartlett
Ferdinand: Alan Turkington
Sebastian: Tom Beard
Gonzalo: Jerome Willis
Trinculo: Simon Gregor
Stephano: Roger Frost
Adrian: Dylan Charles
Francisco: James Garnon
Master of the Ship/Juno: James Staddon
Boatswain/Ceres: James Telfer
Mariners/Spirits: Dan Crute, Gracy G Goldman, James Hyland, Fiona Lait, Jami Quarrell
Director: Michael Boyd
Designer: Tom Piper
Lighting: Tina MacHugh
Sound: Mic Pool
Music: Craig Armstrong, John Woolf
Music Director: John Woolf/Richard Brown
Movement: Liz Ranken
Aerial Choreography: Gavin Marshall
Dialect coach: Charmian Hoare
Company voice work: Lyn Darnley, Andrew Wade
Fights: Terry King
2002-09-13 12:07:44