The Tempest

This was Lesley Cowland’s directorial debut and she deserves full marks for not only taking on one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays but also for adapting it and making it quirky. I may be one of those that prefers my Shakespeare set in Elizabethan times with doublet and hose but having not witnessed The Tempest previously I came with no pre-conceived ideas and left wishing that Lesley had been even more adventurous.

Moving the setting from an island to outer space was an interesting concept; I am not sure it really worked as despite a lot of changes to the text so much of the script still talked about the sea. It did however allow a change to the usual stage crew dressed in all back to be replaced by Jawas which was a great and funny idea. The added highlight for me was ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ which lightened the second act and gave a real feel good factor, it was also great to see Lesley dancing away at the back and obviously enjoying her actors’ performances.

Another of Lesley’s changes to the usual was to have a female Prospero played by Kathryn Hearn, a massive part which Kathryn controlled admirably. Here though was another script anomaly as Prospero was still known as the ’Duke’ when surely ‘Duchess’ would have been appropriate? The change of gender did though change the dynamics of the relationship with the daughter Miranda - played by Maude Collins-Pallet. Maude gave us a gentle, vulnerable Miranda and created a very believable romance with Ferdinand played by Stephen Deaville who probably got the top marks for acting on the night; he was excellent in every scene, had very good projection and every word was clearly spoken and easily heard.

Abigail Giles was an energetic Ariel creating havoc and confusion, with good expression and brought lots of life to every scene - a very enjoyable character for the audience to warm to. For characterisation though the plaudits have to go to Darya Berger who was a monstrously horrible Caliban with a body language that made you feel uncomfortable, a character she maintained for every moment she was on stage.

The comic relief came in the form of Trinculo (John Kensett) and Stephano (Roy Bookham). Playing drunk is a particularly difficult stage skill to master (when sober) and maintaining it even more difficult. John and Roy managed to maintain a form of drunkenness for long periods and used the stage area well although I would have liked more of the physical humour to have come through.

The rest of the space-shipwrecked crew from Naples provided some good backing to the main. With the exception of Jill Hardman as a lively Sebastian, David Martin was a thoughtful Gonzalo, Graeme Shaw a rather solemn Alonso - which was fine whilst his son was considered to be drowned - and Danny Smith an under played Antonio, I felt they all had much more to offer. Jo Micallef as Adrian and Ellie Holiday as Boswain made up the rest of the crew.

An open air production offers both challenges and opportunities; the Inn On The Park is an interesting venue within a confined area which allows the audience to feel close to the action.

There was a good choice of musical interludes which fitted into the style of the production. With the music coming from behind though we did lose some of the lib particularly at the start of Act 2.

I liked the ‘Star Trek’ styled costumes of the Naples crew but I didn’t understand why Trinculo and Stephano were dressed in a completely different style, and whilst Ariel’s one piece silver jump suit again fitted into the style, Miranda’s flowing dress seemed out of place. Overall the wardrobe was a bit confusing.

In summary, an enjoyable production with some good performances, but I felt there was an even better show just under the surface waiting to come out.

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