|
|
 |
| |
Stewart impresses as Prospero for the RSC
THE TEMPEST
Novello Theatre
TELEVISION mentalist Derren Brown was at the Novello on Wednesday night to see Patrick Stewart in a captivating production of The Tempest.
Dark-dresser Brown can only dream of the powers invested in his Shakespearean alter ego Prospero who, not content with the odd paper cup trick, is the omnipotent sovereign of his isle.
The exiled Duke turned power-crazed magician shipwrecks his enemies on his island. He has two subjects, his slave Caliban (John Light) and the obedient sprite Ariel (Julian Bleach).
Ariel helps the magician settle his old differences, managing to unite his daughter with the King’s son along the way.
Caliban mounts a revolt with some of the ship’s crew.
Prospero at the end abjures his “rough magic”, swapping life in the airy-fairy world of make-believe for the real world.
Prospero’s farewell to the island is also Shakespeare, in his last great work, bidding farewell to the stage.
The play has delighted both ends of the political spectrum.
For the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge it was evidence of Shakespeare’s “profound veneration for all the established institutions of society”. But the writer William Hazlitt found in the character of Caliban a defence of the spirit of the French Revolution.
Light’s Caliban spoke with a lisp and was suitably wretched and rebellious. But you felt the RSC had in him more an athletic dancer rather than an actor. His leaping was excellent but his speeches often drowned in hyperbole.
Stewart inevitably stole the show masterfully embodying Prospero’s volatile authority. But hot on his heels was Bleach.
Bleach by name Bleach by nature, whited-up his Ariel slowly stalked the stage singing his sweet lullabies like some supernatural ghoul.
A special mention must go to Craig Gazey as the jester Trinculo. Usually his scenes are absurd and dull. But Gazey made them something to look forward to.
The Tempest is rarely performed and in the consummate hands of the RSC, with Patrick Stewart at the helm, this is more than a treat for Shakespeare anoraks – it is unmissable.
Until March 24
click here to book tickets |
 |
Check Prices, Availability & Book Online
Receive Online Discounts and Instant Confirmation |
|
|
|
