SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewThe Tempest
by Tim Newns
|
We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. — Prospero |
Ralph Fiennes as Prospero (Photo: Catherine Ashmore) |
Ralph Fiennes is excellent as Prospero. He is intense and measured throughout and is a strong centre point around which the rest of the production rotates. Fiennes draws the audience into Prospero’s world and we are almost complicit in his wizardry, unable to resist the temptation to see more of the extreme trickery he instructs the spirit of the air, Ariel (Tom Byam Shaw), to perform on the ship wrecked inhabitants.
Giles Terera as the monstrous Caliban and Andrew Jarvis as the kind and philosophical Gonzalo are also exceedingly noteworthy with Jarvis instilling in the production warmth and optimism. The spiritual world is charming in its visual appeal but at times the regular falsetto singing of Ariel combined with regular flying of spirits in the rafters steers the production dangerously close to cliché.
There are mesmerizing moments and Prospero’s epilogue of dismantling magic is a stunning resolution. The scenes between Prospero and Miranda are particularly heart warming and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Trinculo, the King’s Jester and Clive Wood as the robust King’s Butler provide several moments of comedy in quite a dark storm.
In a production of such technical achievement it is only right to praise the work of the design team. Paul Pyant’s lighting design is superb and has a strong hand in creating such an otherworldly and mysterious environment. Rainbow effects and unnatural purples don’t stick out in an eclectic palette that lights a rather sparse yet effective canvas of brick walls and projected backdrops and Stephen Brimson Lewis’s set and decorative period costumes juxtapose well. Illusionist Paul Kieve has provided the cast with many striking moments, particularly the opening storm where spirits appear from everywhere and flickers of fire adorn the doomed King’s Ship.
The Tempest is successful in its optical allure and Fiennes has been well cast as a memorable Prospero, yet perhaps these two facts may dominate too much with the eventuality that other elements of the production get lost in translation. The romance between Ferdinand (Michael Benz) and Miranda (Elisabeth Hopper) fails to ignite much spark and the scenes with the King’s ‘party’ sometimes seem lacklustre and one may want to be quickly transported back to the world of sorcery and storms. It is a long production at 3 hours but despite its flaws it has some rather enchanting periods.
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
| The Tempest
Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Trevor Nunn Starring: Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Lyndhurst With: Elisabeth Hopper, James Simmons, Michael Benz, Chris Andrew Mellon, Julian Wadham, Andrew Jarvis, Jim Creighton, Ian Drysdale, Giles Terera, Clive Wood, Grahame Fox, Jami Reid-Quarrell, Eke Chukwu, Tom Byam Shaw, Steven Butler, Charlie Hamblett, Itxaso Moreno, Meline Danielewicz, Gisele Edwards, Hayley Ellenbrook, David Poynor Design: Stephen Brimson Lewis Lighting: Paul Pyant Sound: Paul Groothuis Movement: Jami Reid-Quarrell Illusionist: Paul Kieve Running time: 3 hours including a 15 minute interval Box Office: 0845 481 1870 Booking to 29th October 2011 Reviewed by Tim Newns based on 7th September 2011 production at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4HT (Tube: Piccadilly Circus) |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
