The Tempest by William Shakespeare

• The Tempest opens the 1623 Folio, an edition of 37 plays written by Shakespeare, collected after his death by his two friends John Heminges and Henry Condell.  
• Written in 1610/1611, The Tempest is considered the last play penned solely by Shakespeare. Prospero’s Epilogue, ‘Now my charms are all o’erthown’ has been seen as Shakespeare’s own farewell to the theatre, before his retirement in Stratford. This interpretation, however, is based on conjecture rather than facts.
• The play was inspired by the storm that in 1610 destroyed the Sea Venture ship off the coast of Bermuda, with 150 castaways finding refuge on an exotic island until they were able to rebuild the ship.
• The play was likely written for the Blackfriars theatre (rather than the Globe theatre), so for an indoor, candle-lit space that has been recreated as Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London.
• On 1 November 1611 The Tempest was shown by Shakespeare’s company, King’s Men, at the Whitehall Palace before James I and the English royal court. It was staged to celebrate the wedding of King James’s daughter, Elizabeth, with Frederick V, the Elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine.

• The Tempest explores the themes of magic, imagination and theatre, and as such it invites experimentation with technology on stage.
• The play offers the audience multiple perspectives, allowing them to experience the events from the inside and from the outside.
• The staging of the opening storm is likely to set the tone of the production. It determines whether the play is to be seen as symbolical or realistic. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the nature of theatre as an art of make-belief and the role of Prospero as an artist. How was this initial scene staged in the productions you have seen? How would you present this?
• A Polish theatre critic, Jan Kott saw Shakespeare’s dramas as a series of mirrors, concave and convex, that reflect the same theme in different styles. In The Tempest, the theme of usurpation is reflected through Antonio’s dethroning of Prospero, Antonio and Sebastian’s attempt at overthrowing Alonso, as well as Caliban’s plan, hatched together with Stefan and Trinculo, to topple down Prospero. How is the theme of usurpation presented in each case? How has this been portrayed in performance?
• A key aspect of the play is the interpretation of Prospero. Is he a benevolent father rightfully seeking vengeance for his banishment or is he a tyrant exploiting the island and others around him?

Watch two filmed performances of The Tempest and ask:

• How is The Tempest staged?
• Considering the colonial undertones of Prospero’s possession of the island, how are Ariel and Caliban portrayed? What is their relationship with Prospero?
• What is the overall feel of the island? Is this an exotic and colourful location? Is this an apocalyptic landscape? Or is it a bare stage where everything is left to imagination?
• Given how quickly Miranda and Ferdinand move from their first meeting to marriage, how is their relationship portrayed?
• Who is Prospero in this production?

• The Tempest was adapted in 1667 by John Dryden and William Davenant into The Tempest; or, The Enchanted Island. They included new plots and characters, such as additional female characters and a young man raised in isolation by Prospero on the island. The alterations responded to the presence of female actresses on stage after reopening of the theatres and to contemporary interests in romance and rivalry.
• Dryden and Davenant’s adaptation became a triumph, and it was adapted by Thomas Shadwell into an enormously popular opera in 1674. Shadwell’s revision became the most familiar version of The Tempest to audiences until William Macready successfully staged Shakespeare’s text in 1838.
• Charles Kean’s version of The Tempest in 1857 was an extravagant display of theatre machinery. The production was reviewed by Hans Christian Andersen.
• In the second half of the 20^th century, The Tempest became associated with colonialism and postcolonialism. Aimé Césaire play Une Tempête (1969), set on a Caribbean island with Prospero as an oppressor, became a powerful cry against colonialism.
• Canada Lee was the first black actor to perform Caliban in a New York production in 1945. 

Prof. Gordon McMullan describes what the first performance of The Tempest might have looked like: https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/the-first-night-of-the-tempest

The director Gregory Doran and others discuss the relationship between magic and technology in the 2016 Tempest by the RSC and Intel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph8gdC2lv_I

The trailer of The Tempest by Nexus Studios (2020), accessed by the users via an iPhone or an iPad in real time: https://nexusstudios.com/work/livear/

The trailer of The Under Presents: The Tempest by Tender Claws (2020). The production takes place in virtual reality with audience members accessing it through headsets: https://tenderclaws.com/tempest

For Further Reading see

• Dymkowski, Christine (ed.). Shakespeare in Production: The Tempest. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
• Mancewicz, Aneta. ‘Liveness in VR and AR adaptations of Shakespeare.’ In Early Modern Liveness: Mediating Presence in Text, Stage, on Screen. Edited by Danielle Rosvally and Donovan Sherman. London, New York, Dublin: Arden Shakespeare, 2023. 89-110.
• Weijdom, Joris. Mixed Reality and the Theatre of the Future. https://www.ietm.org/system/files/publications/ietm_fp_mixed-reality_march2017_1.pdf

For Further Watching see

• Prospero’s Books (1991) directed by Peter Greenaway
• The Tempest (1979) directed by Derek Jarman
• The Tempest (2010) directed by Julie Taymor
• You might also look at Forbidden Planet (1956) directed by Fred M. Wilcox