The Tempest

Summary: 1939 BBC Television studio production of Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest.
Theatre play: The Tempest by William Shakespeare [more information]
Play synopsis: Teh Tempest is set on a remote island, ‘where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place using illusion and skillful manipulation. He conjures up a storm, the eponymous tempest, to lure his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit King Alonso of Naples to the island. There, his machinations bring about the revelation of Antonio’s lowly nature, the redemption of the King, and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso’s son, Ferdinand.' (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest.)
Production history: Believed to have been written 1610-11, published in the First Folio 1623.
Date of transmission: Sunday 5 February 1939
Time: 9.05-10.35pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Dallas Bower (1907-1999)

Playwright

William Shakespeare

Music

Sibelius

Musical Arrangements by

Hyam Greenbaum

Designer

Malcolm Baker-Smith

Choreographer

Antony Tudor (with members of the London Ballet)

Cast

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Later transmissions: Presented again at 3.00pm on Wednesday 8 February 1939.
Notes: 'A field-day for experimental-minded Dallas Bower on Sunday, February 5he will produce The Tempest, a play that cries aloud for special television treatment [...] There will be two penumbrascopes (popularly called "umbrellascopes" at Alexandra Palace), and Ariel will be made far more of a tricksy spirit with the help of the cameras’ ('The Scanner’, ‘Intelligent "Ribbernecks" ', Radio Times, 27 January 1939, p. 16).
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.

Title: Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography (Book)
Author/creator: Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer (Authors)
Reference: London: Mansell, 1990
Linking notes: entry 610, p. 283

This record has been viewed 914 times.