The Tempest is one of my favourite okays, and one with which I have had a long association. It was the first Shakespeare I ever saw in stage, with John Gielgud as Prospero, Arthur Lowe and Julian Orchard as Stephano and Trinculo; my degree class used the gaberdine scene as a piece of Theatre in Education to a local school (I was Caliban); I played the role of Trinculo in a production in Oxford; I taught it to A level and saw countless productions of various kinds, including one with four actors; I directed two different versions with different groups at Lord Williams’s School, and one, memorably with the Youth Theatre in Romania. So, a long involvement.
But the great thing about theatre, and about Shakespeare in particular, is that there is always something new to be discovered, to play with. And this time, it is the idea of having multiple Ariels. There are always sprites to accompany Ariel, but this is different, in that out of the seven playing the role, none are the actual Ariel alone. The words are shared between them, sometimes singly, sometimes in unison, and the movement is similar- at times they move as one, but they can also be radically different. I hope that this will provide various theatrical opportunities.
One impact is to increase their importance in the telling of the story. They are almost never off-stage, whether being charmed into existence lie snakes by Prospero, creating the storm that shipwrecks Prospero’s enemies; or the jungle through which they have to travel…
This does have the effect of meaning they have to attend nearly all rehearsals; I hope this does not prove too much of a strain, for I am pleased with the effect and with their ability to create it. They are a variety of different shapes and sizes, which I think makes them all the more interesting.
