Run Lovers, Run!

Just for fun! :D

Romeo, where for art thou?
http://www.flasharcade.com/adventure-games/romeo-game.html

In all seriousness though, comparing scripts between Romeo and Juliet and the Tempest; Both feature naive lovers, which is a theme Shakespeare is very fond of. In all their purity and charm, Ferdinand and Romeo are the models of pure romanticism. Charming to a fault, I can only imagine Ferdinand's fate would be identical to Romeo's if only they had changed settings. In fact! Romeo and Ferdinand are so alike, this guy on facebook took the liberty of combining their names in the name of love!

http://www.facebook.com/romeo.ferdinand

Costume

The costumes of the Tempest are the best part of the show. They are fairy-tale like! Magically! Artistic! And basically allow for the freedom any designer would want on a show or need. Ariel and Caliban are two of the main characters that have a ton of freedom with their design. They are the two spirit/creatures closest to Prospero and therefore have to be the most visually appealing. Above there is a picture of Ariel with some of the nymphs and this production chose to put feathery wings onto him. Though it is visually stunning and does work with the interpretation of the character, I feel like we should go less in the way of a bird. I picture Ariel in whites and blues, maybe some cloth on him but he's more simplistic when compared to the harsh, stoney characteristics of Caliban.

Caliban is typically played by an African-American and is a hunky, hard character. He's an abomination of Sycorax and that should translate into his costume. A good example of Caliban is below.

Set design for the Tempest

When producing a production of the Tempest, a designer typically jumps to the classic deep blues and purples of a swelling Tempest. I propose we try something different.

I'd like to show the beauty of the island of which they are all being stranded. In past productions, much focous has been placed on the tempest and the blues involved but I think straying away from the blues a touch could make for a visually stunning piece.

I feel like playing with colors, vibrant colors, would make the stage pop in a way that audiences hadn't seen before. It would double as a romantic setting for Ferdinand and Miranda as well as a twisted take on the brain controlled island when Prospero attacks the victims.

Rorschach Tempest or The Tempest of William S. Performed by flies on the erection of a dreaming Hyena

Is the Tempest fluff?

"Don't ask me why, people who would steal milk from blind children wouldn't say an unkind word about the Tempest. At the mere mention of the play they sigh and fawn. Halfof the species has actually played Miranda or Prospero, those insipid avatars of innocence and benevolence. To say anything negative about the play is heresy. It’s become a flytrap of superlatives, the omphalos and firmament of everything good in the human spirit, transcendent wisdom. It has come to represent everything to everyone." (Pg. 86)

In the article Rorschach Tempest or The Tempest of William S. Performed by Flies on the Erection of a Dreaming Hyena by Teddy Jefferson, an i9nteresting point of view is taken which is actually negative towards the Tempest. It talks about how over rated the Tempest is and that really it is fluff. I find this interesting because even at the beginning of the article the author was enthrawled in directing the show.

Jefferson, Teddy. "Rorschach Tempest or The Tempest of William S. Performed by Flies on the Erection of a Dreaming Hyena." Shakespeare Quartery 61.1 (2010): 78-107. Print.

Oxford Reference Online

The Tempest

- Printed as the first play in the Folio, The Tempest has always enjoyed a special prominence in the Shakespeare canon. Its first recorded performance took place at James I's court on 1 November 1611, and it cannot have been much more than a year old then. The Tempest is indebted to three texts unavailable before the autumn of 1610, namely William Strachey's True Reportary of the Wrack and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates (completed in Virginia in July 1610, and circulated in manuscript before its eventual publication in 1625), Sylvester Jourdan's Discovery of the Bermudas (printed in 1610, with a dedication dated 13 October ), and the Council of Virginia's True Declaration of the Estate of the Colony in Virginia (entered in the Stationers' Register in November 1610 and printed before the end of the year). An apparently irresistible urge to identify Prospero with Shakespeare (visible since the 1660s) has led many commentators to think of The Tempest as the playwright's personal farewell to the stage, and while this view seems both sentimental and slightly inaccurate (since Shakespeare was yet to co-write Cardenio, All Is True (Henry VIII), and The Two Noble Kinsmen with Fletcher), this probably was his last unassisted work for the theatre, completed in 1611. Its position in the Folio may reflect his colleagues' recognition of this fact.



Oxford Reference Online has some interesting things to say about Shakespeare's the Tempest.



Michael Dobson , Anthony Davies  "Tempest, The"  The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Ed. Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Northern Ireland Public Libraries.  22 February 2011  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t117.e2823>

The Spectacle of the Tempest

Julie Taymor has it right in this new upcoming film version of the Tempest. The magic, and spirits, creatures and nymphs that inhabit the island of the Tempest allow for an amazing use of spectacle on the stage. As opposed to Macbeth or King Lear, Tempest has the freedom to fully realize the capabilities of the theatre and our designers can go crazy. Spectacle definately helps to sell tickets!

"YouTube - The Tempest Trailer (HD)." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdpQcFdfXdY>.

Caliban's Words

Caliban's Words

"You taught me language, and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!"
- Caliban, The Tempest, 1.2

Caliban is an interesting character that in my opinion symbolizes native americans. He welcomed Propero and Mirand with open arms the twelve years ago they stumbled upon the island and taught them how to live.

"This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee
And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' the island."

But Prospero says it isn't so, and that he taught Caliban how to be civilized. It's interesting in the persepective of the twenty second century to see this shown to us in the works of Shakespeare before Columbus even discovered the new world. Or this was on the brink of discovering the new world. Either way, it's another example of how theatre always reflects the times in which it is written.



"Full Text - Script of the Play The Tempest by William Shakespeare." WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-the-tempest.htm>.

This Sceptred Isle

"England is an Island. Though that is surely obvious enough, we do not always remember it, nor all that it implies. By it our history has been moulded. Three centuries ago under Queen Elizabeth Englishmen first became really conscious of their national unity, and since then have taken it for granted; so much so, indeed, that they have often seemed to forget it. Now that beginning of her truly national history was heralded by a very important event: the defeat of the Spanish Armada, sent to attack England by Philip of Spain. Such a victory acted as a powerful stimulus. It was a tangible sign of a new, and striking, truth: England was no longer to be subservient to continental influence, direct or indirect, but, whether in matters political or religious, must function as a unity, as herself." (Pg. 1, The Sceptrede Isle)

The importance of this monograph is, to look at Sheakspeare's plays through their history. The Tempest was written at a time where Spain and England weren't on the best of terms and do you suppose that reflects in the story? You bet your Nicholas Bottom it does! The strain between Prospero and King Alonso isn't reprinted exactly as it was during the time, having removed the situation from England and Spain and set it in Italy, but the principals of the situation still exist. By reading through This Sceptred Isle, I learned a great deal about the historical significance of the Tempest that i hope will translate into our production.

Knight, Wilson. This Sceptred Isle: Shakespeare's Message for England at War. Toronto: Trinity College, 1950. Print.



The Tempest - Who's

The Tempest - Who's

CHARACTERS

Prospero: Rightful Duke of Milan. With his daughter, he had been set adrift by his evil brother to die, but provisions provided secretly by his friend Gonzalo enable him and his daughter to reach a mysterious island. There, Prospero practices magic and rules the island and its inhabitants for 12 years. When a ship carrying his brother and other high officials of Naples—including the king—sails a course near the island, Prospero conjures a powerful tempest that blows the ship to his island. 
Antonio: Prospero's brother. He illegally seized Prospero's dukedom. After the tempest drives the ship carrying him and Alonso, the King of Naples, to Prospero's island,  Antonio conspires against the king. 
Miranda: Fifteen-year-old daughter of Prospero. She has lived with her father on his island since she was three years old and has never seen a man except for her father and the half-human Caliban. The name Miranda is derived from the Latin word mirandus, meaning wonderful, strange, and admired. 
Alonso: King of Naples. He helped Antonio oust Prospero as Duke of Milan. However, after arriving at Prospero's island, he exhibits genuine remorse for his reprehensible treatment of Prospero.

Sebastian: Brother of the king.
Ferdinand: Son of the King of Naples.
Gonzalo: Honest old counselor and friend of Prospero. 
Ariel: Spirit of the air on the magical island who serves Prospero. Ariel first served a witch, Sycorax, who imprisoned him in a recess of a pine tree after he refused to do her bidding. He remained there to suffer great torment for twelve years, during which time Sycorax died. Upon his arrival on the island, Prospero freed Ariel but bound the sprite to his service. Ariel possesses protean power, enabling him to alter his appearance instantly. He can also travel to any part of the island in a split-second.
Adrian, Francisco: Lords.
Trinculo: Jester.
Stephano: Drunken butler.
Caliban: Savage half-man who serves as a slave on Prospero's island. He is the son of a witch, Sycorax. Caliban believes he is the rightful ruler of Prospero's island, having inherited it from his mother. 
Iris, Ceres, Juno: Goddesses presented by the spirits. In classical mythology, Iris was a messenger goddess and goddess of the rainbow. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, and Juno was the queen of the gods.
Nymphs, Reapers: Dancers
Master of the Ship
Boatswain
Mariners
Spirits



Another great thing about producing Shakespeare's the Tempest, on top of what we discussed last Wednesday about saving money on not having to buy the rights is that the Tempest allows for a larger cast with all of the Nymphs and chorus roles. A larger cast will make larger audiences being drawn in from family and friends of the cast which in turn ups our ticket sales.

"The Tempest." 輔仁大學英國語文學系 Fu Jen University, Department of English Language and Literature. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/Shakespeare/tempest/tempest.htm>.



What is the Tempest?

This is a video of what our production should not be...
What is the Tempest?

One of the great comedy's by William Shakespeare. Themes illustrated in the play are freedom, friendship , repentance and forgiveness and feature different temperaments illustrating temperance and intemperance. The plot starts when King Alonso of Naples and his entourage sail home for Italy after attending his daughter's wedding in Tunis, Africa. They encounter a Tempest. Everyone jumps overboard and are washed ashore on a strange island inhabited by the magician Prospero who has deliberately conjured up the storm. Prospero and Miranda live in a cave on the island which is also inhabited by Ariel, a sprite who carries out the bidding of Prospero, and the ugly, half human Caliban. Various plots against the main characters fail thanks to the magic of Prospero. The play ends with all the plotters repenting the Tempest is calmed.

Why the Tempest?

As mentioned above, the themes in the play are universal in that every human being connects easily to this piece. Freedom, Freindship, Repentance and Forgiveness are all easily adapted to any circumstance and the fact that the Tempest is a fantasy adds to its lure for an audience. We are in a recession after all. Also, the Tempest is one of Shakespeare's more popular works and always brings in a crowd.



"YouTube - The Tempest in a Minute." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NouDku4FefU&feature=related>.