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Dir: Colin
Macnee
The Tempest, the last play Shakespeare completed alone, is a mercurial
thing. Interpretations abound – fantastical, political, psychological.
Film versions as various as The Forbidden Planet or Peter
Greenaway’s loopy Prospero’s Books are also testament to its
versatility. Even so, it’s a surprise that Oxford Theatre Guild’s 2006
summer production has managed to bring another twist, making it more
of a comedy and less of a mystery. Which is not to say that it’s not
good fun – it most certainly is. There’s just nothing tempestuous
about it. Director Colin Macnee aims for a ‘cathartic emotional
storm’, say his notes. But while the players give impressive power to
the poetry, there’s little emotional oomph, no darkness, no bite. On
its own terms, though, it’s yet another entertaining production from
an accomplished company.
Prospero, and his daughter Miranda, inhabit a remote and magical
island, cast away years ago when Prospero was deposed as the Duke of
Milan. Ruling his new kingdom with a magician’s grip, master of good
spirit Ariel and primitive monster Caliban, Prospero seeks revenge on
his enemies. Raising a tempest to wreck their ship, Prospero has the
usurpers in his power. But what are his intentions? And when Miranda
falls the King of Milan’s son, is that, too, a part of Prospero’s
plan?
The stage for this Tempest is a rough-hewn, tiered construction
jutting out from the trees of Trinity
College
gardens, suggestive of the “barren rock” of the island itself and of
the ships that have foundered there. It’s a wonderfully compact space
lending variety and intimacy for the action, even if the central
dwelling - part hut, part tower – plays less of a part than you think
it will. It’s a shame the stage is located so close to Trinity’s
Parks Road entrance, where
gate-gapers, traffic and nearby pub-noise can be distracting. A more
secluded spot would’ve been truer to the tale and its telling.
Colin Burnie is a commanding presence as Prospero, a Duke to his
fingertips. Less apparent, is the anger and menace of the man. Without
this, we lose the edginess of his temper. Estelle Buckridge as Miranda
is engaging as the daughter waking to womanhood; and Alex Rogers is
suavely comic and tender as her lover. Especially enjoyable is Rowena
Lennon who plays Ariel with a Peter Pan playfulness - pouty and
Puck-like – and with an appropriate lightness of touch. She sings
beautifully too. Joseph Kenneway also deserves credit as Caliban, an
affecting performance of brave physicality, with shaven head and
tattoos.
There’s enjoyably broad humour from ship’s mates Trincula and Stephano
and from the scheming courtiers. The comedic emphasis does, though,
lessen the drama and one could wish for more restrained sound effects,
which tend to cramp the actors’ considerable style. Quibbles apart,
while this is a decidedly non-magical or menacing Tempest, the lighter
tone is nevertheless well-suited to a summer’s evening of imaginative
entertainment.
The poignancy of this opening evening was quite rightly lent by Colin
Burnie’s heartfelt tribute to Oxford Theatre Guild veteran Peter
Mottley, who had died only the day before. The performance was
dedicated to him. Many in the audience knew the name and felt the
loss. It was a performance worthy of the man, and the Theatre Guild
should be as proud of itself as Oxford is of Peter Mottley and the
Guild he loved.
Glenn
Watson, 18/07/06
Daily Information
The
Tempest, City of Oxford Theatre Guild, Trinity College Gardens
By
Paula Clifford
Oxford Mail
The
Oxford Theatre Guild is back in Trinity College gardens this month
with a stirring production of The Tempest. But on the first night,
with the record-breaking heat wave at its height, the opening sound
effects were hardly sufficient to evoke bad weather, even though the
college lawns were suspiciously green. With Colin Burnie as a
commanding Prospero, this production brings together some familiar
faces as well as a few who are relatively new to the Oxford stage.
The
set, in the Parks Road corner of the gardens, consists mainly of a
tall structure, not unlike an allotment hut, which serves as a
look-out for Prospero when he's spying on Miranda and Ferdinand and as
a base from which Ariel works her tricks. Here the smart aristocrats
from Milan are washed up, impeccable in their morning suits, the young
lovers lark about, and Gonzalo and his associates have fun with their
bottles of sack.
It's
all somehow a bit static, although the sheer verve of the cast carries
it all along at a good pace. Even Ariel, delightfully played by Rowena
Lennon, is very much a confined spirit. She has no real tricks up her
sleeve, and the pyrotechnics that the audience are promised are
confined to a couple of fireworks in the second half.
There are some striking individual performances. Estelle Buckridge is
an enchanting, and not wholly unworldly, Miranda, and Steve Wright, a
professional actor from New Zealand, excels as Stephano, the ship's
butler.
Director Colin Macnee has taken a few liberties with the text. The
most successful is to make Trincolo the jester into Trincula, the
ship's cook. Alex Reid offers us an excellent character with a
down-to-earth Yorkshire accent who is more than able to take her place
alongside Stephano in his drunken antics. Somewhat unnecessarily the
masque scene in Act IV, described in the programme as "a rather cheesy
diversion . . . . and largely irrelevant", has been taken out
altogether, which spoils the fun a little. Prospero's "Our revels now
are ended" speech is reinstated at the end of the play.
A
couple of years ago, the Creation Theatre Company set a new and almost
impossibly high standard for open-air productions of The Tempest in
Oxford. Perhaps inevitably, this one is not in the same league, but it
nonetheless offers an entertaining night out in a most agreeable, if
at times somewhat noisy, setting.
The
Tempest runs until July 29. (Box office tel. 01865 305305.
The Tempest by William
Shakespeare
Directed by Colin Macnee for
the Oxford Theatre Guild
Playing in Trinity College Gardens, Oxford till
Sat 29th July
Director Colin Macnee successfully conjures an
island of supposed harsh deprivation midst gardens that ooze comfort
and privilege. Colin Burnie is great as Prospero, spending the evening
fixing passage home for his daughter Miranda played by Estelle
Buckridge. A lovely affinity between this pair. Prospero’s pain at
seeing his daughter move on in her love for Ferdinand is delicious.
Alex Rogers plays Ferdinand, and his ‘love at first sight’ melding
with Miranda is beautiful and convincing, driven by lines like ‘I
might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so
noble’.
The text is as magical as the tale, and is
delivered almost throughout with good pace and diction. The exceptions
are the odd occasion when upstage lines get lost in the bushes and
when lowered voices are lowered too far.
A cheeky Ariel from a multi-talented Rowena
Lennon pushes the plot along at a good pace; her performance points up
the authority with which Burnie commands the stage. Stephano and
Trincula (Steve Wright and Alex Reid), for the most part drunk, enjoy
the romp, as did we.
I liked the baddies, Antonio and Sebastian,
played well by Alistair Nunn and Joseph Adams; the sarcasm to Gonzalo
and the death threat to Alonso were both quite disturbing. Edward
Simpson’s Gonzalo was a gem, a touching combination of dignity and
deference, an excellent badinage scene, while David Thurston handled
Alonso’s grief well.
The opening shipwreck scene, which I’ve known to
last too long, was done well. The ship’s lurching as she split was
implied convincingly by those nobles on deck displaying the greatest
difficulty in standing upright, and trying to stay out of the range of
Tim Younger’s powerful voice appropriately employed as the Bosun.
Over the years I’ve watched the imagination of
directors, costumiers and make-up artists vie to produce the most ugly
Caliban, something of a challenge when the substrate is the handsome,
charming Joe Kenneway. It’s fun to think that, though they achieved
their ends with Joe with a really shocking transformation, shaven head
and massed tattoos, he would likely pass unnoticed in many of the
dance pits in Oxford’s George Street on a Saturday evening!!!
A super production of a popular text, Desert
Island Discs by courtesy of Bill Moulford of the music and sound
department.
Reviewed by Don Fathers for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
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