British Universities Film & Video Council

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Tempest, The

Synopsis
Video recording of Jonathan Miller’s 1988 production of The Tempest for the Old Vic with Max von Sydow as Prospero. ‘Miller ... used a mixed cast made up of white actors as the humans and black actors playing the spirits and creatures of the island. According to Michael Billington, "von Sydow’s Prospero became a white overlord manipulating a mutinous black Caliban and a collaborative Ariel keenly mimicking the gestures of the island’s invaders. The colonial metaphor was pushed through to its logical conclusion so that finally Ariel gathered up the pieces of Prospero’s abandoned staff and, watched by awe-struck tribesmen, fitted them back together to hold his wand of office aloft before an immobilised Caliban. The Tempest suddenly acquired a new political dimension unforeseen by Shakespeare’. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest].
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
10 Nov 1988

Credits

Director
Jonathan Miller
Writer
William Shakespeare
Music
Carl Davis
Production Design
Richard Hudson
Costume
Richard Hudson
Cast
Max von SydowProspero
Rudi DaviesMiranda
Cyril NriAriel
Rudolph WalkerCaliban
Aiden GillettFerdinand
Alexei SayleTrinculo
Andrew KitchenMaster of the Ship
Bernard BrownAlonso
Dorothy RossCeres
John BarronGonzalo
La Verne WilliamsJuno
Melanie E. MarshallIris
Nelson E. WardBoatswain
Peter BaylissStephano
Peter GuinnessSebastian
Peter WearAntonio
Stephen CaroFrancisco

Additional Details

Theatre
Old Vic Theatre
Theatre company
Old Vic Theatre Company
Production type
Stage Recordings
Plays
Tempest, The
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Multicultural casting; Colonialism

Notes

History
The production ran 6 October-26 November 1988.
Stills
Stills from, and design notes on, the production are available on the Arts and Humanities Performing Arts Data Service (AHDS) at http://ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/designing-shakespeare.htm’.

`Richard Hudson provides another of this superb sets (large cubes that seem to have been washed up on the sloping stage); and Carl Davis supplies music, including some pastiche Monteverdi for the masque that Prospero puts on for Ferdinand and Miranda. All in all, a great success’. Paul Anderson, Tribune 21 October 1988
Reviews
Billington, Michael. Guardian 12 October 1988, p. 21, and in New York Times 1 January 1989, section 2, pp. 5, 12 (in review-article).

Archive

Name

V&A Theatre & Performance Collections: National Video Archive of Performance

Email
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Fax
020 7471 9864
Address
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