The Tempest
Sigourney Weaver makes her West End debut in this new production from the Jamie Lloyd Company
The Tempest
The production creates its own dark magic with large-scale grandeur
The Guardian
The Tempest
Sigourney Weaver makes her West End debut in this new production from the Jamie Lloyd Company
Why see The Tempest?
Sigourney Weaver's London Stage Debut
On Sale Soon
Multi-award-winning actress Sigourney Weaver will make her West End debut this December as Prospero in this thrilling new production of William Shakespeare's shipwrecked epic, coming to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, courtesy of Jamie Lloyd and his eponymous theatre company. Billed as an 'enchanting story of revenge and forgiveness', we're sure this reimaging of the highly quotable play will be full of Jamie's stylistic verve and bombast, as evidenced most recently in Romeo and Juliet at the Duke of York's Theatre and the Olivier winning revival of Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre.
A three-time Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning actress, Sigourney Weaver is perhaps best known worldwide for her breakthrough role as Ripley in the Alien franchise. A magnetic and commanding presence on screen and stage, we can't wait to enjoy her first foray onto the London stage.
What is the story?
Wronged by his brother and seeking vengeance, Prospero, the former Duke of Milan lives on a deserted island with his daughter Miranda and their servant Caliban. A talented sorcerer, Prospero's long-held dreams of revenge are finally made reality when his usurping brother sails close to his waters. Conjuring up the tempest of the title, he shipwrecks his brother and his courtiers, beginning a dance of magic, resentment, forgiveness, and enlightenment that evidences Shakespeare's celebrated understanding of humanity and it's many foibles.
Cast
- Sigourney Weaver as Prospero
Creative
- Written by William Shakespeare
- Directed by Jamie Lloyd
- Design by Soutra Gilmour
Reviews
Customer reviews
LP
Riding out the Storm
As the serpentine Lord Voldemort, Ralph Fiennes proved he can brandish a wand with malicious intent. Now, as he steps into the shoes of one of the literary grandfathers of nuanced magic, Shakespeare’s Prospero, it’s clear that Fiennes can summon up even greater powers.
Headlining Trevor Nunn’s strictly-limited run of The Tempest, he quietly commands the stage- delivering Prospero’s rich monologues with a brilliantly subtle conviction. It’s not an overstated performance, as the character of Prospero tends to be with all its emphasis on magic and vengeance, and I think it works well within Nunn’s somewhat anachronistic approach to the play’s staging. This is a production that relies less on a hi-tech bag of tricks to create illusion than on aerial pulleys upon which acrobatic cast members pivot and fly above the stage- an unusual throwback to an Elizabethan system of wires and winches that is refreshing in our technological age.
Yet although Nunn’s play is grounded in tradition, I felt the opening tempest itself was disappointingly unconvincing- as if the sound effect box was at its lowest volume. Given that this is the eponymous tempest, it was not nearly dramatic enough and, in my opinion, a hugely imbalanced spectacle. Quieter moments could have benefitted from a few better-timed violent thunderclaps, whilst the ones that did boom and crash served only to drown out some of the script’s key lines. The projection of moving waves, with the actors acrobatically spinning in tandem behind, seemed a bit flat- imaginative circus acts may be entertaining, but they do not whip up a credible storm. Later, the visionary dogs that hound Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban seemed almost laughable as cast members pounced onstage on all fours-another instance when a bit of CGI wouldn’t have gone amiss.
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paul Christopher
b+
If you like a muted Prospero then you will enjoy Ralph Fiennes. His performance might work on a movie screen but was a yawn in the Royal Haymarket.
At times, I wasn't sure if this was the Tempest or Caliban the musical
Ariel was played most cleverly by a trio of talent
On the whole this Tempest shouldn't be missed
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