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la_enamorada, I was able to see The Tempest yesterday before it closed with twistedchick.
It was an amazing production!
First off, the ship-wreck scene was done in a very different manner than I'd ever seen it before. There was a large translucent drop hung across the front of the stage, and when the scene stared (abruptly, with a thunderclap and the house lights turning off all at once!) it was backlit. For the first few moments, the actors did look as misty and insubstanital as people do in driving rain.
Then the veil across the stage dropped and we were suddenly in the hold of a ship -- the stage pieces were curved, and there was rigging and ropes hanging from the rafters, which the actors proceeded to climb and dangle from as the lights flickered on and off like lightening.
Most creepily, Ariel was on a wire harness, and every few seconds flew across the background, grinning like Loki on a rampage. It was especially creepy when, in telling Prospero how he'd wrecked the ship, there were two sailors dangling heads down from trapezes quite near the top of the curtains, as if they drowned. The production made us of trapezes and wire harnesses a *lot*, and it was quite effectively eerie.
When the action moved to Prospero and Miranda, the curved set pieces looked more like rocks. And when Prospero first uses his magic, the actor set his staff down and swirled it in water -- until then I hadn't realized that the entire first yard of the stage was covered in four inches of water! It was quite a magical moment.
Prospero himself first appears in shadows, and his costume was loose white trousers and a long shirt -- basically Elizabethean undergarments, topped with a loose coat.twistedchick pointed out that he looked like an El Greco painting, and he really did. The coat was impressive, as there was some sort of reflective or possibly fluorescent trim along the shoulders and down the arms -- Prospero looked outlined in blue light when he first appeared. When he stepped into the light, you could see the silvery fabric of the coat was patterned; at first I thought it was damasked silk, but then I realized it was images of screaming faces on the cloth. *That* set the tone for the whole show, really.
Ariel wore a red loincloth, silver bracelets and anklets, and a beaded breastplate-necklace; he had a body stocking on too, which was a neccessity because he kept flipping himself upside down and taking full advantage of being on a wire harness, as he was for all his scenes. His feet never touched the ground, though he occasionally stood on top of the stage pieces. Ariel was the only named character dressed explicitly in African garb -- the others were in European clothes. Also, the actor has opera singing experience, and *sang* all of Ariel's poetic speeches.
The music was a mix of African, Arabian and European styles -- some of the songs, and there were many of them, were in Swahili or Arabic. The attendant spirits were wonderful. Some were dressed in turbans and caftans, but the really impressive ones were dressed in masks and rafia skirts, which made them in walking fetishes, with either goat or bird heads. There were five spirits wrapped in cloth surmounted with skull headresses for the "Full fathoms five" lines, which was rather like have Dias de los Muertos figures walk out onto stage. The two mermaids were really neatly designed, as well -- tall headresses like cone shells, padded flippers over the hands, and skirts resembling tails cut short so the actors had to walk in a crouched, gliding step. Actually, most of the attendant spirits must have had dance experience because they did a LOT of dancing. And singing.
Prospero and Miranda were dressed plainly, but barefoot. Caliban was barefoot and in *rags*. Ferdinand was barefoot but had a coat. The King and his people were dressed completely (coats) and had shoes.
When Prospero explained about Sycorax, he and Miranda were in foreground, and at the backstage, curtains opened up to a veiled, obviously pregnant woman clad in white and chanting. It was a very effective way to portray a flashback, and they did something very similiar when Prospero explained about his brother and the King of Naples -- his brother came out of the background, embraced him, took his chain of office, and went back to the background to kneel in fealty to the King.
The wedding scene had Juno, Iris, and Ceres descended from the rafters -- their costumes included very elaborate African headdresses -- and sang the marriage ceremony. While attendant spirits dressed came out, including the mermaids, the bird and goat fetishes, and some very fit men in turbans and caftans. It was amazing.
The very last scene, though, was a killer. When Prospero freed Ariel, he freed him and left the stage. Ariel descended to the stage, his feet touching the ground for the first time in the entire play. He unhooked his harness, and the wire apparatus disappeared into the rafters. Then he *collapsed* into the spotlight, murmuring brokenly (in Swahili), and then the lights went out.
That was probably the creepiest ending I have *ever* seen to a Shakespeare play.
la_enamorada, I was able to see The Tempest yesterday before it closed with twistedchick.It was an amazing production!
First off, the ship-wreck scene was done in a very different manner than I'd ever seen it before. There was a large translucent drop hung across the front of the stage, and when the scene stared (abruptly, with a thunderclap and the house lights turning off all at once!) it was backlit. For the first few moments, the actors did look as misty and insubstanital as people do in driving rain.
Then the veil across the stage dropped and we were suddenly in the hold of a ship -- the stage pieces were curved, and there was rigging and ropes hanging from the rafters, which the actors proceeded to climb and dangle from as the lights flickered on and off like lightening.
Most creepily, Ariel was on a wire harness, and every few seconds flew across the background, grinning like Loki on a rampage. It was especially creepy when, in telling Prospero how he'd wrecked the ship, there were two sailors dangling heads down from trapezes quite near the top of the curtains, as if they drowned. The production made us of trapezes and wire harnesses a *lot*, and it was quite effectively eerie.
When the action moved to Prospero and Miranda, the curved set pieces looked more like rocks. And when Prospero first uses his magic, the actor set his staff down and swirled it in water -- until then I hadn't realized that the entire first yard of the stage was covered in four inches of water! It was quite a magical moment.
Prospero himself first appears in shadows, and his costume was loose white trousers and a long shirt -- basically Elizabethean undergarments, topped with a loose coat.
twistedchick pointed out that he looked like an El Greco painting, and he really did. The coat was impressive, as there was some sort of reflective or possibly fluorescent trim along the shoulders and down the arms -- Prospero looked outlined in blue light when he first appeared. When he stepped into the light, you could see the silvery fabric of the coat was patterned; at first I thought it was damasked silk, but then I realized it was images of screaming faces on the cloth. *That* set the tone for the whole show, really.Ariel wore a red loincloth, silver bracelets and anklets, and a beaded breastplate-necklace; he had a body stocking on too, which was a neccessity because he kept flipping himself upside down and taking full advantage of being on a wire harness, as he was for all his scenes. His feet never touched the ground, though he occasionally stood on top of the stage pieces. Ariel was the only named character dressed explicitly in African garb -- the others were in European clothes. Also, the actor has opera singing experience, and *sang* all of Ariel's poetic speeches.
The music was a mix of African, Arabian and European styles -- some of the songs, and there were many of them, were in Swahili or Arabic. The attendant spirits were wonderful. Some were dressed in turbans and caftans, but the really impressive ones were dressed in masks and rafia skirts, which made them in walking fetishes, with either goat or bird heads. There were five spirits wrapped in cloth surmounted with skull headresses for the "Full fathoms five" lines, which was rather like have Dias de los Muertos figures walk out onto stage. The two mermaids were really neatly designed, as well -- tall headresses like cone shells, padded flippers over the hands, and skirts resembling tails cut short so the actors had to walk in a crouched, gliding step. Actually, most of the attendant spirits must have had dance experience because they did a LOT of dancing. And singing.
Prospero and Miranda were dressed plainly, but barefoot. Caliban was barefoot and in *rags*. Ferdinand was barefoot but had a coat. The King and his people were dressed completely (coats) and had shoes.
When Prospero explained about Sycorax, he and Miranda were in foreground, and at the backstage, curtains opened up to a veiled, obviously pregnant woman clad in white and chanting. It was a very effective way to portray a flashback, and they did something very similiar when Prospero explained about his brother and the King of Naples -- his brother came out of the background, embraced him, took his chain of office, and went back to the background to kneel in fealty to the King.
The wedding scene had Juno, Iris, and Ceres descended from the rafters -- their costumes included very elaborate African headdresses -- and sang the marriage ceremony. While attendant spirits dressed came out, including the mermaids, the bird and goat fetishes, and some very fit men in turbans and caftans. It was amazing.
The very last scene, though, was a killer. When Prospero freed Ariel, he freed him and left the stage. Ariel descended to the stage, his feet touching the ground for the first time in the entire play. He unhooked his harness, and the wire apparatus disappeared into the rafters. Then he *collapsed* into the spotlight, murmuring brokenly (in Swahili), and then the lights went out.
That was probably the creepiest ending I have *ever* seen to a Shakespeare play.
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From:
no subject
Thanks for the detailed description - I can almost picture it all in my head. I wondered what they'd do for this production - they just did The Tempest a few years ago (well actually, checking their site, it was in 1997 - how time does fly!) and it was a good, but VERY "by the book" production. I don't mind that, but I love it when they get creative.
From:
no subject
Thank you very much for the tickets.