Good Night Out presents: The Tempest
by William Shakespeare
Produced by Adam Spreadbury-Maher
Directed by Simon Beyer
The Cock Tavern Theatre
4 February-7 March 2009
A review by Amber Gregory for EXTRA! EXTRA!
I was extremely excited when asked to review this production of The Tempest, as it is one of my favourite Shakespearean plays. Having studied the text extensively at school and seen numerous productions I was intrigued to watch this adaptation where director Simon Beyer has gender reversed the entire play. Yes that’s right- Prospero becomes Prospera; Miranda becomes Mirundo and so on. Prospera, the rightful Duchess of Milan, and her son Mirundo have been exiled on a deserted island and face a lifetime of solitude with the exception of the devoted Arielle and spiteful Caliban. In a storm however, the Queen of Milan and her entire crew are swept upon the island’s shores and Prospera plays the role of Mother Nature on a power trip as she decides what must be done to those who once betrayed her. In the final play he ever wrote Shakespeare says goodbye to his audience through the eyes of a strong character who needs to decide what to do with his (in this case her) mystical and magical powers. With a cast of twelve, only one of them is male which is bizarre in itself as plays often have very male dominated casts with the exception of a Carol Churchill production. The purpose of this however is not to make a bold feminist statement but to show an observation of what happens when women dominate the world. Not a woman in a man’s world, but women in a women’s world. What seems to happen oddly enough is that they seem to pick up masculine tendencies. Particularly the characters of Prospera, Caliban and most of the ship’s crew seem very male. The only parts that seem very female are that of Alonza who plays a distressed mother having lost her daughter in the storm and that of Arielle who has been interpreted as both genders over the years. Miranda- the gentle, compassionate and passive heroine believes very much everything her father tells her, which is what we see in the original text and these characteristics are kept when played by a boy. So, what happens to a young male in a female dominated world? Not much different from when it is a female in a man’s world. Whichever sex is alone is lost and bewildered in a world full of people whom they cannot relate to so this confusion expands and astonishes their imaginations. In this adaptation Simon Beyer has stayed very true to the original text. You may then ask ‘what was the point of reversing the sexes?’ The point was to try something new without trying anything too gimmicky which would take the meaning of the play from the original writing. The play worked very naturally with a mainly female cast and it only added an extra dimension to the play- rather than to introduce a totally mad, new concept to it. By mixing a truly unique idea yet staying totally traditional this is a production that could please both purists and experimentalists of Shakespeare. Having the actors not speak in Received Pronunciation was also a unique move by the director. Often when going to watch a Shakespearean play it is incredibly obvious that every actor is purposely speaking in the Queen’s English or in the case of the comic characters, something that is trying to represent cockney. Research has shown that Shakespeare has never suggested what accents parts should be played in and this is respected in this production as the cast speak very much in their own dialects. The space in The Cock Tavern is incredibly intimate, holding only between 30-60 audience members. The cast are so close to you that you can see extreme detail which adds to the play. Arielle’s eyes match her costume, Caliban’s roll back and forth and even when all twelve actors are on stage at once we are able to observe each one of them closely. The set designed by James Sheppard is sparse with only a few bit of wood on stage. It does not feel bare however as the bright fiery colours painted on the floor bring the set to light. The lighting works hand in hand with the set design in the second part of the play when UV lighting is used on the walls. This gives the trippy effect of the magical land. The costume design plays a huge role in the play particularly differentiating the masculine characters from the feminine ones. A trouser suit even when on a woman immediately screams ‘man!’ even in the 21st century. I am aware that I have not yet spoken about the cast specifically and this is because the twelve actors clearly worked so hard as a team that it is difficult to single any one out. Arielle, played by Natasha James, and Caliban played by Clare Cameron definitely stood out in the production, but I do not think this is unusual as it is always the magical and mystical who are the most likely to be remembered. All actors worked on a highly professional level and even though I enjoyed the small venue I believe the performance they carried off could also work in a much larger one. It was a great tragedy that there were only five of us in the audience and I commend the actors highly that they managed to pull the production off with the energy that they did. I would recommend this performance to any reader of this review and believe that it would suit numerous tastes. Good Night Out have recently become The Cock Tavern Theatres resident company and I look forward to watching many more of their productions to come.
The Cock Tavern Theatre Bookings: 0780 096 5287 Tickets: £10 Two hours with interval Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm
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