Tempest

Sigourney Weaver plays Prospero in this production of Shakespeare's Tempest. There are so many wonderful things to say about this production. The lighting was the best I've ever seen in live theatre (and probably any art media I've seen). The pitch black lighting at the beginning created an eerie atmosphere, with flashes of light to create an amazing concept of a nautical tempest without resorting to traditional requirements of the sound of rain or thunder to imitate a storm. The set was also wonderful; the use of an extremely light curtain to simulate waves was phenomenal, and the implicit mountain (a steep-looking rise in the background where actors bravely rushed up and down the steep hills) created an impression of a stormy windswept island without resorting to sound. Full kudos to the Director. 

The actors were also excellent. Sigourney Weaver was great - dramatic and expressive at all times. The spirit Ariel was a standout star, and I particularly loved the sound effects of deepening their voice occasionally when starting fights. It was a classic Shakespeare comedy with misunderstandings and confusion leading to conflict. But this time an invisible spirit was actively putting the words into others' mouths. 

However, I found the plot really difficult to follow. Part of this might be a lack of engagement with the text. I've seen Tempest once before at primary school (20+ years ago) and have never read the play. I also didn't skim Wikipedia before watching the play, to my regret. I think the plot was essentially:

• Prospero the wizard and their relationship with their slave and Ariel the spirit, and needing to manage Ariel's desire for freedom
• Two young privileged people who fall in love and have no serious plot relevance
• Two drunks who have great fun planning to become kings of the island by killing the wizard (which is apparently an unforgivable crime despite the fact they make no serious progress towards this)
• Four travellers of whom two are keen to kill the others to improve their position
• At some point, Prospero changes her ways and breaks her staff - I still have no idea why she did this, only that it preceded her revealing she's the Duke of Milan 

Usually I find Shakespeare difficult to understand at first but eventually it all starts to flow. This happened in this play, but not until so far in that it was almost not worth it. Bits of Prospero's opening monologue, the conversation about freedom with Ariel, and why Prospero changes her ways were all tricky to follow. I found this a bit disappointing and would have really appreciated a bit more support from the actors to help understand what was going on. 

I probably would see it again. It was beautiful, the seats were fantastic (I must go to the Theatre Royal again for this reason alone - Circle seats and legroom!) and the bits I understood were great. But I'd also like to see another production, and see if it can be made more understandable.

Watched at the Theatre Royal on 24th January