Coventry Evening
Standard, 23rd October 1974
After some of Stratford’s recent excesses this uncomplicated production comes as a pleasure and a relief.
It brings a performance of rare quality and
originality by Debbie Bowen as Miranda. This is something special – a Miranda
who is credible and convincing.
There is magic in the island and she provides it
abundantly. Oh brave new Stratford that has such creatures in’t.
Michael Aldridge’s Prospero is also an interesting
reading. This is no imperious duke, seeking vengeance for his betrayal and a
return to the glory of his dukedom, but rather a sad, wise man. His magic arts
are used not for a display of power and the discomfiture of his enemies, but
more for the sober carriage of justice.
Ferdinand, played by Michael Pennington, is
responsive to the image. Not for him any wonder at the mystery or desire to
stay in this paradise (the lines are cut anyway), but a youthful impatience
with the old man’s strictures and a healthy desire for the flesh and the
fleshpots. Not for him a game of chess with Miranda, whatever the text may say.
That does not mean that the director, Keith Hack,
is likely to arouse storms over his ‘Tempest’. The portrayals work and the play
lives.
There are useful supporting performances by
Jonathan Kent, as the usurper Antonio, all sneers and blackness, by Robert
Lloyd, as a sensitive of not very sprightly Ariel, and by James Booth and Ian
McDiarmid, as a pair of inventive comics.
Only the Caliban of Jeffery Kissoon jars, despite
the power of the portrayal.
Mr Hack paints him as a monster only in his colour,
but , in attempting to illustrate the white man’s mental and physical cruelty
to the black races, he succeeds only in being offensive to them
Essentially this is a thoughtful production which
merits a wide audience.
Return to Production
Information