15 December 2016
The Tempest
The Donmar, King’s Cross
by Adam McCormack
The Tempest completes the Donmar’s trilogy of Shakespeare plays set in a women’s prison with an all female cast, following their versions of Henry IV in 2012 and Julius Caesar in 2014. Yet again this production, as with the others directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is a triumph, with the themes of the play resonating perfectly with aspects of prison life and the interactions between inmates and with their warders. The Donmar’s work with the prison charity, Clean Break, is not only admirable in giving an opportunity to those who most need it, but also allows productions such as this to have an edge that would be very hard to achieve otherwise.
We are again given an immersive prison visit experience; having to queue to enter, being directed by warders, and then sitting on hard plastic stackable chairs. The production is introduced by lifer Hannah (Harriet Walter), imprisoned for a politically motivated armed robbery. Hannah plays Prospero and the implications are quickly understood, with Prospero stuck on his island trying to use his powers to wreak revenge on those who took away his title and his life. The development of the plot here is perfectly interwoven with life in the prison, with the sprite Ariel, an unseen agent of Prospero’s magic. The scenes where Prospero’s 3 princely and ducal nemeses are in the prison canteen switch seamlessly between the prison action and the play, drawing out the parallels perfectly. The other two key plots; the romance between Prospero’s daughter Miranda and Ferdinand, and the scheming of Caliban, Stefano and Trinculo to try to kill Prospero, also fit well into this narrative and allow moments of high comedy and poignancy. Prospero’s raging at the end of a scene where the inmates have all been treated to images of the life outside to which they will soon return displayed on balloons, tragically encapsulates their respective fates. The ultimate acts of forgiveness are heart-rending as this means that all the protagonists (apart from Caliban who is left polishing the prison floor) complete their sentences and say fond farewells to Prospero, who remains in his cell with his books. That the character of Hannah is based on a real life prisoner, Judith Clark, who is serving 75 years in a US prison, makes the denouement still more powerful.
Harriet Walter is undoubtedly a great actor, and here she is given the chance to display her skills to their full. She is more than ably supported by a strong young cast, with Jade Anouka outstanding as Ariel, and the comic duo of Jackie Clune and Karen Dunbar perfect as Stefano and Trinculo. This production introduces some of its own songs and they, together with the musical interpretations of Shakespeare’s verse, are further memorable elements, with the singing in particular outstanding.
While the production is at the temporary theatre in King’s Cross, the Donmar team has lost nothing of the intimacy of their Covent Garden home, leaving us with a compelling and thought provoking interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.
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