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The TheatreguideLondon Review
The Tempest
Haymarket Theatre Autumn 2011
If you have never seen The Tempest before, you will find Trevor Nunn's new production, amazingly his first attempt at the play, easy to follow and frequently entertaining. If you have seen other productions you may have a sense of deja vu, as Nunn has gone for a simple, direct and almost textbook staging, and there will be few surprises in performances or interpretation.
And that, of course, may be one of this production's greatest virtues. With no arbitrary directorial vision imposed on it, and with only occasional special stage effects (flying for Ariel, etc.) that are in fact generally pretty lame, the evening is driven by a few strong performances and mildly hampered by a few weak ones.
Foremost among the strengths is Ralph Fiennes playing a younger than usual (i.e. middle-aged) Prospero, a man with real passion and energy, and not necessarily all the wisdom of the ages.
Since this is at least partly a play about a man with a vengeance choosing to forgive, it enriches the play to have a Prospero not so locked into his ways that he cannot change and young enough to contemplate a new life.
There is nice support from Elisabeth Hopper, making Miranda a believable teenager, and Michael Benz's Ferdinand, amiably idiotic as a youngster in love, while James Simmons as the King and Andrew Jarvis as Gonzalo bring attractive hints of depth to their secondary characters.
Nicholas Lyndhurst gets second billing in the minor role of Trinculo though neither he nor Clive Wood as Stephano is able to make the two dreariest clowns in all of Shakespeare any funnier than they ever are.
Giles Terera gives such a familiar performance as Caliban that I had to check the program to see if I had encountered him in the role before. I hadn't – it's just that I've seen (and you probably have as well) other actors doing exactly the same things throughout. And Tom Byam Shaw's Ariel is almost as invisible as the text says he is, leaving very little impression.
So this is not a Tempest for the ages or even for a lifetime's memories. But it's a solid production, a good introduction to the play and a good vehicle for its star.
Gerald Berkowitz
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Review - The Tempest - Haymarket 2011
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