Tempest, The

Synopsis: Video recording of Jonathan Miller’s 1988 production of The Tempest for the Old Vic with Max von Sydow as Prospero. ‘Miller ... used a mixed cast made up of white actors as the humans and black actors playing the spirits and creatures of the island. According to Michael Billington, "von Sydow’s Prospero became a white overlord manipulating a mutinous black Caliban and a collaborative Ariel keenly mimicking the gestures of the island’s invaders. The colonial metaphor was pushed through to its logical conclusion so that finally Ariel gathered up the pieces of Prospero’s abandoned staff and, watched by awe-struck tribesmen, fitted them back together to hold his wand of office aloft before an immobilised Caliban. The Tempest suddenly acquired a new political dimension unforeseen by Shakespeare’. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest].
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 10 Nov 1988

Director

Jonathan Miller

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Carl Davis

Production Design

Richard Hudson

Costume

Richard Hudson

Cast

Theatre: Old Vic Theatre
Theatre company: Old Vic Theatre Company
Production type: Stage Recordings
Plays: Tempest, The
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Multicultural casting; Colonialism

History: The production ran 6 October-26 November 1988.
Stills: Stills from, and design notes on, the production are available on the Arts and Humanities Performing Arts Data Service (AHDS) at http://ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/designing-shakespeare.htm’.

`Richard Hudson provides another of this superb sets (large cubes that seem to have been washed up on the sloping stage); and Carl Davis supplies music, including some pastiche Monteverdi for the masque that Prospero puts on for Ferdinand and Miranda. All in all, a great success’. Paul Anderson, Tribune 21 October 1988
Reviews: Billington, Michael. Guardian 12 October 1988, p. 21, and in New York Times 1 January 1989, section 2, pp. 5, 12 (in review-article).

SHAKESPEARE