“The Tempest” at the Globe – 03/04/23

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

I’ll start this post by saying that I am very, very tired today. I’ll explain the reason in a separate post because it definitely deserves a separate post but needless to say, it was a very tiring reason. But nothing bad, don’t worry.

Still, I needed a lively kind of show to keep me awake this afternoon and luckily this production of The Tempest promised punchiness. It’s a kid-friendly version (Year 5 and up) which comes in at a pleasingly economical 90 minutes. I’m not super familiar with the original text  – I certainly don’t know it off by heart like I do with Midsummer Night’s Dream – but I assume it was abridged and some of the extra nobles and sailors cut out of the plot altogether.

The other thing that was going to keep me awake was coffee. I made an offhand remark to Eva about how there would be around 10 branches of Pret on our walk from Liverpool Street to the Globe and from this offhand remark, we ended up using a random number generator to decide which of these 10 we would get coffee from. The randomly generated number was indeed the number 10. Which sounded like there would be a lot of walking and not a lot of caffeine to fuel it. We cracked around Pret#6 and stopped at this one just north of Southwark Bridge, with lovely views of St Pauls.

Feeling suitable re-energised, we headed over Southwark Bridge and then along the South Bank to the Globe. We had seats in the Lower Gallery, including cushions which we picked up just outside Door 2.

It took us a little while to figure out where we were supposed to be sitting. Turns out that each section of the gallery has a letter  – Bay A, Bay B etc – but every row also has a letter. So I was convinced we were in Bay E but no, we were in Row E in Bay H. It’s a little complicated to get around because there were so many people in the standing area but I guess that’s a positive reflection of how popular the show. And on another positive note, we had great seats – directly in front of the stage, shaded from the sun and with a wall behind us to lean on. Perfect!

It was a beautiful day for outdoor theatre as well. The Globe performances carry on in rain and shine – presumably they would carry on in an actual tempest – but the lack of rain made for a very pleasant experience. For those who were finding the sun a bit much, there were stewards handing around caps made out of cardboard that acted as a sun shade. They really think of everything.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

My knowledge of The Tempest is mainly from the chapter in “Curtain Up” (I refuse to call it “Theatre Shoes”) where Sorrel plays Ariel. But it’s enough to know what I think the characters should be like – Prospero domineering and stubborn, Caliban comical and pitiful, Ariel strange and ethereal. And I would say that all these characteristics were on show today, with David Hartley’s Prospero looking a bit like The Dude but an irritable and all-powerful version. Caliban was pretty spot on too – it’s a hard balance to pull off pitiful without being whiney but Archie Rush manages it. Charlie Cameron’s Ariel was certainly strange and ethereal even if her voice did remind me of Miranda Richardson. Her costume was gorgeous, especially the wings  – when pressed, Eva decided that Ariel was her favourite character and I can see why. After all, Eva quite strongly identifies with the fae folk and may actually be part-fairy. She was wearing her own version of Ariel’s wings  – a long, shimmering piece of material that once acted as a curtain in my student house and now makes a credible cloak:

Of course, she isn’t basing her knowledge of the play off a 1940s novel…being a bit of a Shakespeare nut, she has read the original and was scornful of me for not doing so.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

The costume design throughout was bold and striking. The sun made everything look brighter and combinations like bright orange and hot pink were almost blinding at times. But I said I wanted to be kept awake, right?  The occupants of the ship were all in fairly conventional clothing – bright but not outlandish – which contrasted with the more unstructured look of the island folk. Caliban and Ariel both wore tight fitting sparkly caps, which linked them together as Prospero’s slaves and Miranda (Bea Svistunenko) wore a dress and ripped jeans that were sparkly and a bit otherwordly. The nobles, on the other hand, had a much sharper look especially Gonzalo (David Ijiti) who sported tailoring that even Tan France would approve of. He also had some very sharp dance moves.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

As well as being a bright and colourful production, it was also a very physical one. Right from the start, the actors grapple with one another as they portray the ship being wrecked. It almost looked like they were about to fall off the stage but I assume it was all very carefully choreographed. It throws the audience right into the story and gives a real sense of jeopardy, even in the bright sunshine.

I won’t go through the whole play scene by scene because I am many things but I am not Wikipedia. Instead, I’ll tell you what the highlights were – the tender romance between Miranda and Ferdinand (Azan Ahmed), especially the look on Miranda’s face after their first kiss. The comedy scenes with Caliban, Stephano (Aoife Gaston) and Trinculo (apparently also Bea Svistunenko although I failed to notice that it was a dual role). The “not a fish” and “kissing feet” sequences got proper belly laughs from Eva. The gymnastic skills of Ferdinand and Ariel were also impressive. and we loved the bit where Ariel descended from the roof with those glorious wings again. There were a few tweaks to the script where words seemed to be modernised slightly or added in to create moments of comedy. it may have all been done through a switch of intonation but I think there was a bit of reshaping going on, to help the text appeal to a young adult audience. It wasn’t in any way intrusive or detrimental to the original text though.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance

There was also a bit of gender swapping worked into the script, with a Queen of Naples instead of a King – this switch was only noticeable when there was a line about a “queendom” which didn’t sound quite right. But Emma Manton was so imperious as the ruler that I probably wouldn’t dare to question her. On the nobles side, I also enjoyed Antonio (Zheng Xi Yong) making only the half-heartedest of efforts to look for Ferdinand and the interaction between him and Sebastian (Lloyd McDonagh) as they consider a bit of light regicide.

The production skips past pretty nimbly. At 75 minutes in, Eva asked me what the time was and was astonished that the time had gone so quickly. I was a bit confused because I thought there was an interval and wasn’t sure how much plot could possibly be left. But it runs straight through and certainly my child found that runtime more than manageable. A couple of preschool aged kids in the audience seemed restless towards the end but there were probably just that bit too young.

The venue does add a sense of magic to any Shakespeare production. It was the first time I’d watched a show in the main theatre but we saw Midsummer Mechanicals in the Sam Wanamaker last year and Eva had been to the main theatre before with her BFF.  But it definitely creates an authentic atmosphere, even when the actors are in 90s neons. There can be some logistical issues with a round arena and occasionally the actors were speaking away from us but the acoustics were good and we could hear everything clearly. Playing in the round also allowed the actors to come in through the audience and clamber onto the stage (or not, in Stephano’s case) and there were quite a few moments where the standing audience were able to interact directly with the cast.

We were super lucky to be able to have a poke around backstage after the show. We have a friend in the production crew and she let us have a look at the costumes and props up close as well as stand on the actual stage. I think it was somewhat of a dream come true for the little Shakespeare fan. We went right up to the top of the building and saw the mechanism that allowed Ariel to fly and the musicians’ gallery. It was really cool and totally made Eva’s day. I was amazed by the attention to detail  – even backstage, all the doors are made of heavy oak and the thunder machine is a suitably rustic sheet of metal. We did have a go on the thunder machine and it was so much fun. We also met Azan Ahmed, who played Ferdinand, and he was just so lovely to Eva even though I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to find a 10-year-old fan lurking backstage in her Shakespeare dress.  I’m trying not to make you all jealous as I’m sure my Inside Woman doesn’t want to be swamped with backstage requests but it really was an awesome end to the day.

All that was left was to wander back through Borough and somehow spend a fortune on fruit powder, vanilla sugar and vegan cola bottles. And then a crowded rushhour bus with a tiny dog in a bag but we don’t need to think about that. I’m a bit too tired.

But not too tired to heartily recommend a trip to see The Tempest with your older-primary-aged kids and teens. It’s a great mix of the very traditional setting but a modernised production with plenty of moments that will chime with 21st century kids. It’s onlu on till 15th April but it’s the Easter holidays – what else do you have to do with your time?

The Tempest is playing at the Globe Theatre now – for tickets and more info, click here. 

Disclaimer: I received free tickets in exchange for a review. All opinions remain honest and my own.

Photography by Manuel Harlan, taken during an integrated BSL performance