The Tempest

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Tempest Julian Richards Presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. November 28, 2016 – January 21, 2017. Directed by Gregory Doran. Production design by Stephen Brimson Lewis. Digital character creation by The Imaginarium Studios. Video by Finn Ross. Lighting by Simon Spencer. Music by Paul Englishby. Sound by Jeremy Dunn and Andrew Franks. Movement by Lucy Cullingford. Costume supervision by Ed Parry. With Elly Condron (Iris), Joe Dixon (Caliban), Daniel Easton (Ferdinand), Caleb Frederick (Mariner), Samantha Hay (Ceres), Tony Jayawardena (Stephano), Matthew McPherson (Francisco), Joseph Mydell (Gonzalo), Oscar Pearce (Antonio), Mark Quartley (Ariel), Jenny Rainsford (Miranda), Darren Raymond (Boatswain), Simon Russell Beale (Prospero), Joe Shire [End Page 342] (Master of the Ship), Oliver Towse (Adrian), Simon Trinder (Trinculo), James Tucker (Alonso), Tom Turner (Sebastian), Jennifer Witton (Juno), and others. As far as famous firsts go, being the first Shakespeare play to be reviewed in New Scientist is perhaps a fairly unique milestone in production history. That theater technology would reach the point that it is considered cutting-edge science is perhaps not a development anyone foresaw, but that is what Greg Doran's 2016 production of The Tempest has achieved. The RSC, Intel, and The Imaginarium Studios have produced a Tempest designed to inspire awe and wonder. It is perhaps a symptom of the times rather than of intent that this was a Tempest more informed by issues relating to modern science fiction than any other in recent memory. It is perhaps reflective of modern science fiction that this production, like that genre, is at its best when there are no effects, no grand technologies, simply actors on a stage showing us what it means to be human. It cannot be denied that the show's digital projections were stunning. These effects were bolstered by the flooring, a glorious transparent structure supported on polycarbonate "fins" which bore a mosaic that shifted and glistened with light and colour in every new setting. Tropical paradise shifted to barren wasteland or burning hellfire in an instant as light and color danced across the stage. Prospero's island felt truly like another world: one which was tied inexorably to the whims and wills of its master. When Prospero ended the nuptial celebrations with his remembrance of Caliban's plot, the ground, for the first time, became barren. Was this due to Caliban's treachery, or to the realization that he was truly to lose his daughter? Whatever the cause, it was Prospero's mood that shaped his realm: when he repented of his hunger for vengeance, broke his staff and pledged to drown his book, the floor turned black. The cracks shone bright blue, like frozen lightning. The one fault with such superb projections was the RSC's continued inability to understand sightlines for a thrust stage. The huge bows of the wrecked ship jutted out from the wings: a choice that, coupled with an insistence on projecting onto the distant back wall or—bizarrely—a curved screen lowered two thirds of the way downstage, left the audience to either side of the stage decidedly underserved by this central element of the production. The much-hyped motion capture elements of the production were also problematic. At various points, large and stunning projections of Ariel would appear, their movements linked to sensors on Mark Quartley's body suit. These were at their best when Quartley himself was visible on [End Page 343] stage alongside his projected avatar. Too often, however, there was a lag between the actor's movement and speech and those of the avatar. For all the effort, splendor and technology, there was only one moment in the production where the effects genuinely served the story we were told. When reminding Ariel of his imprisonment inside a tree, Prospero brought down a gauze pillar around him and conjured up the arboreal incarceration once more. Quartley's Ariel twisted and writhed as projected roots and branches wrapped around him and spread across the stage. By the time Prospero had finished describing the imprisonment, the entire stage had become a twisted mass of bark and branch. Ariel...