When one thinks of Shakespeare, it’s the likes of the ill-fated 'Macbeth', 'Hamlet' and star-crossed lovers 'Romeo And Juliet' that immediately spring to mind. But when Black Swan State Theatre Company put a call out for the public to decide which iconic Shakespearean work, they should stage in 2021, the winner was deemed 'The Tempest’.
More well known as being the last of Shakespeare’s works as opposed to the greatest; 'The Tempest' is a story that’s epic in scale and centres on Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan who has been stranded on an island for 12 years with his now grown daughter, Miranda after his dukedom was usurped and taken from him.
'The Tempest' see’s Shakespeare reuse many tropes and themes. There are star-crossed lovers, an exiled leader who wants to reclaim their birthright and familial betrayal. There’s plenty of magic and intrigue, but director Matt Edgerton’s production is more understated and intimate, and the scaled back approach allows you to really sit with these characters, who are physically and metaphorically stranded in their conflict and the roles they are forced to play in society.
This is evident in the first few moments of the production, when as soon as you walk into the auditorium the cast erupt in a sea-shanty like song, singing about what they wish they would be. They take wardrobe items and props from unsuspecting audience members, which they then bury in the sand on the stage and take out to reuse as props later on.
The staging also emphasises these ideas of being entrapped and stranded. The cast remain mostly on stage for the entirety of the production and sit and watch the rest of the cast, during scenes where they are not performing.
Image © Daniel J Grant
While the production stays relatively true to Shakespeare’s work, a few creative licences have been made. Characters like Prospero’s deceitful brother Antonio and Alonso’s brother Sebastian have been recast as women, Antonia (Catherine Moore) and Sebastia (Teresa Jakovich) respectively, and Trinculo and Stephano, the King’s drunken butler are now Trincula (Caroline McKenzie) and Stephanie (Charlotte Otton).
Jakovich is particularly engaging as the scheming Sebastia while Otton steals the show with her impressive vocals and comedic presence as the hilarious Stephanie. The entire cast delivered stand out performances in particular Phoebe Sullivan and Ian Wilkes who brought great chemistry to their roles of the young star-crossed lovers Miranda and Ferdinand and Humphrey Bower had a commanding stage presence as the downtrodden Prospero.
Pavan Kumar Hari made the sprite Ariel is his own, and in addition to acting and dancing, performed some beautiful compositions, Caroline McKenzie received plenty of laughs in her role of a drunk Trincula and Will O’Mahony and Mararo Wangai brought a lot of depth to their roles too.
Beautifully staged and well cast, this intimate, scaled back approach to a Shakespearean classic reinforces that behind the legend of Shakespeare and the magic and drama; his stories are about the universal human experiences; and that’s what keeps us boarding the choppy yet moving waters of 'The Tempest' after all these years.
