'The Tempest' is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. It contains one of his most imaginative settings, which can be truly wondrous with the right budget and in terms of character dynamics and genre it is unique. Again, Shakespeare's mastery of text is evident throughout with many memorable, iconic in some cases, lines, speeches and scenes. And the characters are not easy to forget, with the play boasting two of for me Shakespeare's greatest characters in Prospero and Caliban.
Had absolutely no doubt that this Shakespeare Globe production would be at least good. Had heard nothing but great things about it, even from those noy always easy to please, and have always really liked Roger Allam as an actor (Prospero sounds tailor made for him too). Seeing this production of 'The Tempest' for myself, it really is as great as was said at the time and since and even better. When it comes to the best productions of 'The Tempest' seen this is up there.
It looks very striking for one thing. Traditional and never cheap looking or distasteful. The lighting captures the magic and mystery of the play wonderfully, the use of petals was a lovely touch and the sets always have the right kind and amount of atmosphere. The video directing is intimate without being too static, feeling like you are part of the audience adds hugely to the experience.
Moreover, the right kind and amount of atmosphere is applicable also to the atmospheric music score. The staging is always in good taste, no gratuitous, irrelevant or incoherent touches (had no problem with the even more repulsive than usual interpretation of Caliban) and actually was really taken by its refreshing simplicity (going for detail in character and interaction than spectacle). The father and daughter relationship has a searing intensity and poignancy in a way reminiscent of a production of 'Rigoletto' or 'Luisa Miller' or something. The magical parts of the story are indeed magical and the laughs come thick and fast, are genuinely hilarious and are not overdone.
Allam is nothing short of magnificent and the clear standout of a uniformly excellent cast. He is intense and heartfelt as well as commanding, wholly succeeding in making Prospero a complex character. Jessie Buckley is a charming and similarly deeply felt Miranda, a role she doesn't play passively or too heavily. The chemistry between her and Allam sears in the wide range of emotions. Colin Morgan is full of vitality and playfulness as Ariel and James Garnon's eerily repulsive but at times pitiful Caliban is a scene stealer.
Where the production isn't as strong is the final scene, staged in a way that comes over as too much of a pageant that would work really well in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' or 'Love's Labour's Lost' but doesn't quite fit tonally here.
Overall, wonderful. 9/10.
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