This is Shakespeares last play, you know, the one he wrote when he knew he was going to die explained the helpful American audience member to my right. Not true, in fact. He certainly wrote Henry VIII after it, and possibly collaborated on a couple of other plays too. Still, as we sitting there waiting for the show to start we were staring at an old man sick in a hospital bed tended by a nurse, so death was obviously in the air.This interesting conceit of Cygnets production of this complex play is that Prospero (Ben Crispin), the exiled Duke of Milan, is dying in his hospital bed, and a lot of the action may or may not be imagined by him. The tale, as Shakespeares original tells it, is of how Prospero was banished from his dukedom years ago, and how he has brought up his daughter, Miranda, alone on a virtually deserted. Hes a magician, and has just been afforded the chance to use his craft to ensnare those who wronged him by marooning them on his island. The scene is set for revenge, but this great play offers us an alternative. Unfortunately the framing deice robbed the play of its grandeur, its huge world themes such as colonialism and slavery and made the drama rather domestic.This production has its moments, and some of the devices used to tell this tale of rough magic are interesting and quite clever. The many costumes are beautifully designed (Hermione Skrine) and the costume changes themselves bewildering in their number. Most of the acting is good, with Crispin particularly clear and thought out as Prospero. Some of the actors play several parts, and it is to the credit of the adaptation that this is rendered smoothly and unconfusingly. However, in the process the comic characters have really suffered. Genius though he was, Shakespeare wasnt a great teller of gags. His humour is either linguistic or broad slapstick. This falls mainly into the second category, and missed the mark by a mile. This may because two of the comic character are played by actors who also have parts as the villains in the main plot. On the subject of which some of the casting is odd, with Edward Ferrow looking too old to play the callow youth Ferdinand, and Paul Hayden bizarrely good looking as the monster Caliban.Alistair Ganleys production serves the story quite well. My main criticisms would be that there seems to be a pick and mix style to it, with Audi visual stuff, music from different times, a mixture of costumes and acting styles, mime, actors being logs etc. It is also poorly blocked (a lot of straight lines and key moments muddied by movement) and underlit.If you have never seen the play before, its worth a look, if only for the remarkable language. One forgets how so many famous or every day phrases the Bard coined rough magic, all that glisters is not gold, we are such things as dreams are made on brave new world are all quotes from this play. Also, whether he was dying or not, he was near the end. The conclusion of the play, where Prospero forgives everyone who has ever hurt him is the moving because of the language and the perfectly crafted play that has gone before, but it also the realisation of one of the greatest minds the world has ever known that nothing in life is permanent . including hate.We are such things as dreams are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.Magic.
