The Tempest – Theatre Things

Amidst the chaos and bustle of London’s Covent Garden, St Paul’s Church feels like a little oasis of calm and tranquility. Affectionately known as The Actors’ Church, St Paul’s has been home to Iris Theatre since 2007, and the company’s tenth summer season gets off to a strong start with their promenade production of The Tempest.

Believed to be Shakespeare’s last solo play, The Tempest is a story about love, magic and redemption on a deserted island, where exiled duke Prospero and his faithful spirit Ariel plot revenge on his enemies after they’re washed ashore in a shipwreck. Meanwhile, Prospero’s slave Caliban has run off with some drunkards, and his daughter Miranda’s fallen in love with the third man she’s ever seen in her life – who conveniently happens to be the king’s lost son Ferdinand.

The first thing to say about Daniel Winder’s production is that it’s visually gorgeous. Mike Leopold’s nature-inspired set looks perfectly at home within the beautiful garden setting, Anna Sances’ costumes are full of rich, vibrant colour, and as the daylight fades, Benjamin Polya’s lighting design brings the play to an atmospheric conclusion. Throw in a clever sleight of hand magic scene, a singing spirit and a handsome prince, and you’ve pretty much got a fairy tale come to life.

Jamie Newall leads the cast of seven as a quietly authoritative Prospero; it’s a sympathetic interpretation of the character, whose actions seem motivated more by a sad weariness than by rage or tyranny. Linford Johnson and Joanne Thomson make a sweet and charmingly awkward couple as Ferdinand and Miranda, and Paul Brendan and Reginald Edwards offer great entertainment as the drunkards Trinculo and Stephano, who tempt Prince Plockey’s Caliban with booze and inadvertently find themselves talked into an ill-fated attempt to murder Prospero. The star of the show, however, is Charlotte Christensen as Ariel – a quirky, omnipresent figure, watching both characters and audience with a bird-like curiosity that’s both endearing and ever so slightly sinister.

The promenade aspect of the production, which takes us to three different locations within the gardens and briefly inside the church, works as well as can be expected. Waiting for the entire audience to move from one location to another (particularly when the paths are narrow and require us to travel single file) inevitably breaks up the action, but the actors work hard to keep the atmosphere alive in between scenes, and we’re always encouraged to feel like we’re part of the action. While I wouldn’t quite describe it as an immersive production, this also isn’t a show you just sit back and watch – so be prepared to potentially get a little bit involved…

I’d recommend The Tempest to anyone looking for a traditional Shakespearean production with a bit of a twist. While it may not bring us any radical new interpretations of the text, it does make for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, taking full advantage of a lovely setting to offer a welcome retreat from the madness of the city.

Can’t see the map on iPhone? Try turning your phone to landscape and that should sort it. I don’t know why but I’m working on it…

Controlled Chaos Theatre Company aims to promote diversity in the theatre, “including giving women a chance to take centre stage in the male dominated classics”. And they don’t come much more male dominated than The Tempest, a play in which the sole female character does exactly what she’s told by her father, then falls instantly in love with the third man she’s ever seen. Controlled Chaos aren’t the first company to turn that gender imbalance on its head with an all-female production; the Donmar did it last year, setting the action in a women’s prison, and a gender-reversed production at the Brockley Jack in 2005 saw all the male roles not only played by women but actually converted to female characters.

This production keeps things much simpler: the characters are still male, and there’s no framing device; the only difference is all the parts are played by women. As in any gender-blind production, it’s a welcome sight to see female actors getting a chance to take on the meatier roles that Shakespeare never thought to grant them. That said, without any context it’s not always exactly clear what purpose the all-female concept is serving, and somewhat tentative performances from some of the cast dilute the powerful statement that could have been made by placing women in these positions of authority.

However, there’s still plenty to smile about in this version of Shakespeare’s tale of revenge, romance and magic on a deserted island. After a fierce storm shipwrecks the King of Naples and his entourage, they discover the island where they’ve landed is home not only to mischievous spirits, but also to the ousted and vengeful Duke of Milan, Prospero, his daughter Miranda and his slave Caliban. As Caliban conspires with drunken newcomers Trinculo and Stephano to kill his master, Miranda meets and falls for the king’s son Ferdinand, who’s become separated from his father and the rest of their party. And while all this is going on, elsewhere on the island Prospero’s brother Antonio plots to murder the king and put his dim-witted brother Sebastian on the throne.

Dylan Lincoln’s production includes live music played and sung by the cast, to produce an atmosphere of magic and mystery, and also engages particularly well with the humour in the story. Carmella Brown’s Ariel is a delight throughout, skipping around the stage doing Prospero’s bidding with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Michelle Pittoni also stands out as Miranda, her comical wide-eyed wonder at meeting a handsome young man replaced later by horrified embarrassment as her father lectures Ferdinand about his intentions. Shereener Browne and Afsana Sayyed are good fun as Antonio and Sebastian, whispering childishly together behind the king’s back before making a hilariously clumsy attempt on his life, and Ceri Ashe and Kimberley Capero make quite the raucous double act as Stephano and Trinculo.

At just over two hours, this is an accessible and entertaining adaptation of The Tempest, a perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the story. As to whether the show delivers on its promise of a “bold re-imagining”, I’m not sure – but there’s plenty to enjoy either way, and any production that promotes diversity on the stage deserves to be celebrated.

Can’t see the map on iPhone? Try turning your phone to landscape and that should sort it. I don’t know why but I’m working on it… 😉

Tag: The Tempest

Review: The Tempest at St Paul’s Church

Review: The Tempest at Brockley Jack Theatre