Brief Thoughts on The Tempest
So last week I went to see The Tempest played at Mona Vale, a really beautiful garden that’s open to the public. I thought I’d share some pictures and brief thoughts as it was such a lovely evening.
Prospero was excellent; one of those actors who seems born to play Shakespeare thanks to his control over pitch and inflection. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with Shakespeare when you see it performed, but this guy articulated every word. That said, it didn’t cross my mind until now that Prospero is...well, a bit of a dick. I rolled my eyes at the line “Shortly shall all my labours end,” since he doesn’t actually do anything over the course of the play except order Arial to do everything for him.
Arial was played by a woman, giving the character a lighter, gentler air than the character usually possesses. It’s made me doubly interested to see Colin Morgan’s take on the character (does anyone know when it’s due out on DVD?) due to the fact that Arial’s entire arc revolves around him serving a somewhat ungrateful master in the hopes of eventually winning his freedom. Makes you wonder just how deliberate Colin was in choosing this as his first post-Merlin role.
Miranda was a giggler and Ferdinand in a perpetual daze - which given the circumstances of each character is a legit way to portray the two of them.
There was an interesting costume choice in regards to Caliban. Usually portrayed as a hunchback or a kind of “grotesque”, this Caliban’s costume was presumably inspired by Trinculo’s confusion when first stumbling over him (“what have we here - a man or a fish?”) As such, he’s given what looked like scales and a fin atop his head.
Possibly the best innovation was the spirits (those in white) who were practically “on stage” for every moment of the production. They were only seen by the audience, with the characters unknowingly responding to their gestures and music. Thus almost everything that befalls the shipwrecked company is the work of the invisible spirits’ influence, guiding them across the island without their knowledge. It was something only the vast space of the venue could allow, as any staged production would have possibly been too confined for the constant movement and presence of the spirits that was conveyed here.
Prospero was excellent; one of those actors who seems born to play Shakespeare thanks to his control over pitch and inflection. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with Shakespeare when you see it performed, but this guy articulated every word. That said, it didn’t cross my mind until now that Prospero is...well, a bit of a dick. I rolled my eyes at the line “Shortly shall all my labours end,” since he doesn’t actually do anything over the course of the play except order Arial to do everything for him.
Arial was played by a woman, giving the character a lighter, gentler air than the character usually possesses. It’s made me doubly interested to see Colin Morgan’s take on the character (does anyone know when it’s due out on DVD?) due to the fact that Arial’s entire arc revolves around him serving a somewhat ungrateful master in the hopes of eventually winning his freedom. Makes you wonder just how deliberate Colin was in choosing this as his first post-Merlin role.
Miranda was a giggler and Ferdinand in a perpetual daze - which given the circumstances of each character is a legit way to portray the two of them.
There was an interesting costume choice in regards to Caliban. Usually portrayed as a hunchback or a kind of “grotesque”, this Caliban’s costume was presumably inspired by Trinculo’s confusion when first stumbling over him (“what have we here - a man or a fish?”) As such, he’s given what looked like scales and a fin atop his head.
Possibly the best innovation was the spirits (those in white) who were practically “on stage” for every moment of the production. They were only seen by the audience, with the characters unknowingly responding to their gestures and music. Thus almost everything that befalls the shipwrecked company is the work of the invisible spirits’ influence, guiding them across the island without their knowledge. It was something only the vast space of the venue could allow, as any staged production would have possibly been too confined for the constant movement and presence of the spirits that was conveyed here.