The Tempest

Here’s the thing:- If you don’t know Shakespeare; if you don’t understand Shakespeare; or if you don’t respect the writing of (arguably) the greatest playwright in history; then, Don’t Do Shakespeare!

Director Daniel Lammin should perhaps have heeded this before his one hour take of (the formerly 5 act) The Tempest, one of my favourite plays. There is a rule of thumb in adapting any text, and it is this; “protect and honour the writer’s intent”. While I can’t be sure, I am pretty confident that it wasn’t Shakespeare’s intent to raise two minor comic relief characters (Stephano and Trinculo), involved in a sub plot that has no resolution (in this version), to “lead” status, giving them as much stage time as Prospero. Nor do I think that Shakespeare intended this magical and mystical play with its dark subtext (despite its listing as one of Shakespeare’s comedies) to be played for belly laughs all the way through. Lines that are poignant and moving (oh for Barry Otto and Cate Blanchett in the STC production) evoked guffaws last night, most notably from a young “actor” or wannabe in the audience, drawing more attention to himself than the performers on stage. The central journey from revenge to forgiveness, is completely lost; the text is hacked to pieces, the rhythm is disjointed and the beautiful language frequently is left bleeding on the stage.

I have great admiration for the 5pound repertory company. They are a young and exciting crew with great commitment to their craft. But the gorgeous Freya Pragt (she of the surfeit of vivacious energy) is directed to play Ariel, an omnipresent and peripatetic spirit full of mischief, as if sleepwalking and devoid of any personality. Ariel is The Bard’s last attempt to create an older, and darker, Puck, so I’m at a loss as to why Lammin stripped Ariel of everything that makes “him” magic. Mostly, lines are delivered without expression and in stillness, hands by side…a zombie like approach. Not the actress’s fault, I know how well Ms Pragt can act. Tim Wotherspoon’s Prospero is intriguing, but without passion and energy. Still, he has a real affinity with the language, despite his brutally edited role. He is, after all, the central figure, the one who makes the journey, and the most complex of characters with the clash of magic and humanity at his core, feeding his passion. This Prospero makes no journey, in fact he barely moves. Keith Brockett does give us an interesting Caliban, but much of his interaction with Prospero has been cut and he’s stuck with the comic relief of Stephano (Lelda Kapsis) and Trinculo (Freya Pragt again), who never interact with Prospero at all. Brendan Hawke (Ferdinand) is appealing, but the story throughline is now so disjointed, the romance makes little sense. Everything is reduced to exposition. Lelda Kapsis, so delicious in previous productions, is better as Stephano than as Miranda (what does that say about this production?). The latter, far from being innocent, naïve and childlike in a way that makes us smile affectionately, appears to be more of a ditsy dumb blonde (without the wig) played for laughs. I almost wept. Gone are the characters of Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian, thus giving Prospero no opportunity to examine and confront his past and to forgive….gone is the magic banquet, gone is the drama and all subtext, all eliminated by director Lammin’s misguided conjuring act.

I am not a purist. I happily acknowledge that most of Shakespeare’s plays need a bloody good edit, and some make little sense. I loved Bell Shakespeare’s take on Henry 4 and AComedy of Errors; brilliant, modern, energetic. But when a Director doesn’t know to tell his cast the  correct pronunciation of the word ague is Ague (A-gyoo) and not uh-Gyoo, well, I gave up trying to find excuses.

Interestingly, those in the audience who had never seen The Tempest before enjoyed this rendition and thought it was hilarious. Perhaps that was Lammin’s intent, and my fault lies in knowing the play too well. I just went away dismayed at the wasted talent. But I will be back next week; this company is too good to dismiss.

Coral Drouyn