The Tempest at the RSC Stratford

 

I had seen The Tempest three times before, once with Clive Wood as Prospero at The Barbican Theatre way back in 1989, then with Derek Jacobi at The Old Vic in 2003, and once at a live showing in the cinema with Simon Russell Beale in 2017 (post of the 12th January). But yesterday we had my first female Prospero played by the brilliant Alex Kingston. Here she is with Ariel played by the equally marvellous Heledd Gwynn. 

I will never forget when at the very end Ariel takes flight. It was from my seat in the second row of the first circle that this looked so impressive. With Prospero waving goodbye I was stunned.

All I can say about the casting of Alex Kingston is that I would never want to see Prospero played by a man ever again. I just worked so well, especially in her relationship with her daughter Miranda, a fine Jessica Rhodes. (Her acting when she meets a young man for the first time in her life is worth the price of admission). Kingston's Prospero is strong yet vulnerable, almost still in awe of her magical powers.

However, the star of the show for me was Cath Whitefield as Trinculo. She is funny, cute and physically demonstrative. Her double act with Simon Startin's Stephano is a wonder. 

Here he is with Tommy Sim'aan's Caliban. His final exit is yet another superb piece of physical theatre, all down to the actor's athletic abilities.

The modern dress of this production is only really highlighted by the shipwrecked nobles. They are all pretty boring characters but set a good contrast with the other members of the cast, as do their costumes.

The prince they thought was lost, Ferdinand, is similarly and predictably a bore. I guess it's only the novelty that makes Miranda fall in love with him within the four hours in which the play takes place. Here she sneaks an early look.

The final part of this review has to be saved for the director, Elizabeth Freestone. All I can say is that the whole production was brilliantly staged, the speaking was high class, and the first hour and a half before the interval went in a flash. It was, I think, the most emotional experience I have had in a theatre. The music and songs, which I find can be boring, were subtlety hardly there and were never intrusive. The musicians were fine as were the actresses singing and playing the three spirits Juno, Ceres (Imogen Slaughter above) and Iris. A lot has been said about the rubbish surrounding the stage as recycling in tune with the green principles of the production. I thought it was just the stuff from the shipwreck, trumped by it's collection by Ferdinand and his use for the chess match at the end. Very clever.

The review from The British Theatre Guide also found that the time flew as well as Ariel ascending with just a wrist bracelet. It concludes: "Oh brave new world that has such people in't". In reading the long introduction to the text in an old copy of The New Penguin Shakespeare, I found lots of help about this almost surreal play. "It is very much a drama of strange states of consciousness" and that "the island itself seems to change character bewilderingly according to the nature of the person regarding it". Also "there are almost as many opposed ways of seeing a given event or moment in time as there are characters involved".  My thoughts are in another post.