Education Resource Pack created by Helen Cadbury

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1 created by Helen Cadbury

2 CONTENTS Introduction 2 The Production About Tara Arts 3 Synopsis 4 Director s Vision 5 Design 6 The Cast and Creative Team 7 Shakespeare s Play Prospero 8 Miranda 9 Caliban 10 Ariel 11 The Tempest as Theatre 12 Shakespeare s Life and Work 13 Follow Up Activities 14 Writing About The Performance 15 Further Resources 16 Feedback Form 17 Antonio and Sebastian Photo: Talula Sheppard 1

3 INTRODUCTION An act of terror, a treacherous brother, a tormented slave, an innocent daughter Shakespeare s powerful last play is a miraculous story of confinement and freedom. Exiled on a desolate isle, Prospero manipulates loved ones, servants and enemies alike as he obsessively plots revenge to return home. This provides a unique insight into this production to enable pupil and student audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the play. Please let us know if you have found this pack useful by filling in the feedback form on the last page of the pack. Helen Cadbury Tara Arts 2007 Prospero ponders his future photo: Talula Sheppard 2

4 ABOUT TARA ARTS 30 Years of Connecting Cultures Tara s three decades of making cross-cultural theatre began on 25th August 1977, with an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore s anti-war play, Sacrifice. This was chosen in part as a response to the death of Gurdip Singh Chaggar, a 17-year old Sikh boy living in Southall, who fell victim to a racist murder. No passports: poised between East & West, Tara's theatricality is a Binglish evocation of modern diversity, proclaiming with wit and verve - No passports for the stories we tell No passports for the artists we work with No passports for our audiences The creative health of modern diverse humanity demands no passports. The company tours vibrant adaptations of European and Asian classics, develops new writing and brings the great stories of the world to children in junior schools. Tara's distinctive Binglish style of theatre has resulted in co-productions with the National Theatre of Tartuffe (1990), The Little Clay Cart (1991) and Cyrano (1995). It has also staged an epic trilogy of plays on modern migration - Journey to the West (2002). Based in South London, TARA has toured the Netherlands, Ireland, France, Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, as well as England, Scotland and Wales. Tara s work is a terrific synthesis of east and west. Sir Richard Eyre Tara has had an extraordinary journey from passionate student work inspired initially by a racist murder in Southall to its present settled position firmly embedded in the British national theatre scene. In the process they interrogated themselves and challenged the theatre sector and both have been changed in the process. They have brought another sensibility onto the scene, stretched British cultural life and helped to make those of us with different origins visible to both ourselves and others. May their next 30 years be as illuminating. Naseem Khan, OBE Tara s artistic director, Jatinder Verma with Colin Firth at the company s 30 th birthday celebrations 3

5 SYNOPSIS The Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, and his daughter, Miranda, have been stranded for twelve years on an island, after Prospero's jealous brother Antonio helped by Alonso, the King of Naples deposed him and set him adrift with the three-year-old Miranda. Prospero is reluctantly served by a spirit, Ariel whom he had rescued from imprisonment. Ariel was trapped in a tree by the witch Sycorax, who had died prior to Prospero's arrival, leaving a son, Caliban. Prospero maintains Ariel's loyalty by repeatedly promising to release the "airy spirit" from servitude, but continually defers that promise to a future date, namely at the end of the play. Caliban, meanwhile, was initially adopted and raised by Prospero as a son. He in turn taught Prospero how to survive on the island, while Prospero taught Caliban his own language. Following Caliban's attempted molesting of Miranda, he had been forced into slavery, carrying wood and gathering pig nuts. Caliban feels that his trust has been betrayed. Prospero and Miranda in turn view Caliban with contempt and disgust. The play opens as Prospero, having divined that his brother, Antonio, is on a ship passing close by the island (having returned from the wedding of Alonso's daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis), has raised a storm which causes the ship to run aground. Also on the ship are Antonio's friend and fellow conspirator, King Alonso, Alonso's brother Sebastian, and Alonso's royal advisor Gonzalo. Prospero, with Ariel s help, contrives to separate the survivors of the wreck into several groups and Alonso and Ferdinand are separated, and believe one another dead. Three plots then alternate through the play. In one, Caliban falls in love with Stephano and Trinculo, two drunken crew members, whom he believes to have come from the moon, and drunkenly attempts to raise a rebellion against Prospero. In another, Prospero works to establish a romantic relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda; the two fall immediately in love, but Prospero worries that "too light winning [may] make the prize light" and so compels Ferdinand to become his servant, in order to test the depth of Ferdinand s affection for Miranda. He also decides that after his plan to exact vengeance on his betrayers has come to fruition, he will break and bury his staff, and "drown" his book of magic. In the third subplot, Antonio and Sebastian conspire to kill Alonso and his advisor Gonzalo, so that Sebastian can become King. They are thwarted by Ariel, at Prospero's command. Ariel appears to the three "men of sin" as a harpy, reprimanding them for their betrayal of Prospero. Alonso, Sebastian and Antonio are deeply affected. Prospero manipulates the course of his enemies' path through the island, drawing them closer and closer to him. In the conclusion, all the main characters are brought together before Prospero, who forgives Alonso (as well as his own brother's betrayal, and warns Antonio and Sebastian about further attempts at betrayal) and finally uses his magic to ensure that everyone returns to Italy. Ariel (as his final task for Prospero) is charged to prepare the proper sailing weather to guide Alonso and his entourage back to the Royal fleet and then to Naples. Ariel is set free to the elements. Prospero pardons Caliban. In his epilogue, Prospero invites the audience to set him free from the island by their applause. 4

6 DIRECTOR S VISION Jatinder Verma On the island everyone is confined. Caliban and Ariel are enslaved and the ship s passengers are held there by magic. Prospero, trapped in bitter exile, controls his kingdom with knowledge of the dark arts, while Ariel, like the djinn trapped in Al-Addin s magic lamp, does his master s bidding but reminds him of his fallibility. Even his own daughter is manipulated by Prospero s sorcery. She has been hidden away on the island since she was three years old and will only be revealed to the man of her father s choosing. A veiled Miranda emphasises the way in which Prospero has kept her covered up and hidden from the world. The Tempest is a fable and it is in the re-telling of fables that we begin to understand our present times. Prospero is a person who turns his knowledge to darker ends because he is obsessed with vengeance. His prototype is Marlowe s Dr Faustus, but in our own age there are many like Faustus and Prospero - intelligent men and women who will create and support terrible ends to revenge perceived hurt. He calls to mind the figure of Ayman al- Zawahiri, Bin Laden s right-hand man, a learned doctor confined in some cave in the desolate border between north-west Pakistan and Afghanistan, plotting vengeance on the West to recover the purity of his homeland, Egypt. But there is always the possibility of recantation and human empathy. I am reminded of another figure, another doctor who was once al-zawahiri s close associate - Said Imam al-sharif has spent his time in an Egyptian prison. Once a prominent Jihadist militant, he has recanted terror as a means to salvation. In Prospero s case it is the spirit world which offers a glimpse into what it means to be human. Ariel suggests her affections would become tender: Ariel :...sir, were I human Prospero:... And mine shall...the rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance. Perhaps the magic of The Tempest lies in its humane exploration of the most inhuman experiences. For me, it offers a profound comment and hope for today. Jatinder Verma,

7 DESIGN Claudia Mayer At this stage in the design process, we are looking at a general Moorish world Muslim Mediterranean and Middle Eastern as far as Oman and Yemen a world of nomads and settlers, corresponding perhaps to our world of migration, where Caliban is a settler, while Prospero and the rest remain migrants, on the move. Meanwhile it is a world of fading power, dreams and sleep, illusion, time passing and the urgency of action in the face of mortality. There is the constant theme of imprisonment, there is no exit before time, and if things go wrong all of them may be caught forever. The pendulum and the remorseless forward rush of time remain strong themes. We are thinking about the set as a wooden corner and a wooden floor where 6 ropes hang like a cage in the space echoes of slave ships and ropes that hang and bind - imprisonment and death. But in among these dark themes, of course, there are also moments of light and humour. 6

8 THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM CHRIS JACK Ferdinand/Sebastian TOM KANJI Antonio/ Stephano CAROLINE KILPATRICK Ariel Photo: John Nichols Photo: Ric Bacon Photo: Ric Bacon JESSICA MANLEY Miranda/ Alonso ROBERT MOUNTFORD Prospero/ Trinculo KEITH THORNE Caliban/ Gonzalo Photo: Ben King Photo: Dave Cullen Photo: Charlie Carter Director Design LX Design Jatinder Verma Claudia Mayer Jvan Morandi 7

9 CHARACTER PROFILE Who is Prospero? A Duke who has lost his kingdom Prospero literally means according to one s hopes or fortunate. Prospero, exiled by his jealous brother to whom he misguidedly handed over his duties, appears to be in a very unfortunate position trapped on the island, but by his use of magic, he directs events to exact his revenge. He has had his rightful power taken from him, but the magic makes him the most powerful man on the island. A father The shipwreck is not just an instrument of revenge; it enables Prospero to arrange a highly suitable marriage for his daughter, to Ferdinand, Prince of Naples. He has nurtured and educated Miranda for a life back in the world of the Court, she plays chess and argues with intelligence. As a foster father he includes Caliban in the family, they had originally shared the cell and Miranda and Prospero had taught Caliban their language, but at some point, presumably when Miranda reached puberty, Caliban has made an advance on her. From then on he is treated brutally. Prospero s protection of his daughter s honour is admirable but it is also essential if his family is to regain its rightful social position. As she has reached maturity, he must keep her pure for her arranged marriage and cannot risk a mixed union with Caliban. The fear of Caliban s physical difference and the threat he poses to Prospero himself as another man on the island, also present a troubling and dysfunctional father/son relationship. As a foster father, Prospero is cruel but in the end leaves Caliban with the legacy of the island and gives him back what was rightfully his. A slave- owner In justifying his enslavement of Caliban, by claiming that he is less than human, Prospero pre-figures the legal argument for American slavery (the American Constitution of 1787 defined a Negro as only 3/5ths of a human being). A magus or magician He is often compared to Faustus, and Marlowe s play would have been well known to Shakespeare. In it a learned Doctor pursues a study of dark magic which leads him to make a pact with the devil. When he renounces magic he cries I ll burn my books which Prospero echoes with I ll drown my books! The main difference between them is that Prospero professes to practise only natural magic and not the dark magic of the occult and demons. In Shakespeare s time, the world of spirits was believed to be a world parallel with our own. Magic was an exploration and manipulation of what was hidden and it was used to account for all manner of unexplained natural phenomena. Its study was closely allied to science and philosophy the word comes from the ancient Persian word magia which means wisdom. Shakespeare would have been acquainted with John Dee, a magician, scientist and personal astrologer to Elizabeth I. He consulted his magic books and believed he had control over spirits; his ambition was to gain power over the whole world, including the spirit world. He may have been the origin of Prospero s character but other influences would have included King James I, who was fascinated by magic and Thomas Harriott, a philosopher and scientist who had travelled to Virginia. An exile Prospero is a survivor. He calls to mind the many thousands of people who risk their lives every year to escape oppression and poverty in the rotten carcass of a boat or an airless lorry. He arrives with nothing except his books and his knowledge and lives on his wits to survive and to try to get back home. Like many dissidents, he is also determined to change the political landscape of the home he wishes to go back to. 8

10 CHARACTER PROFILE Who Is Caliban? A Settler Caliban s mother, the witch Sycorax, was an exile like Prospero. She was banished from Algiers and arrived on the island pregnant. Caliban was born and is settled here, his mother has died. He has learned about the island s natural bounty and would have liked to have peopled this isle with Calibans if Prospero had not caught him trying to rape Miranda. His natural element is the earth. A Savage Some commentators have noted that Caliban is almost an anagram of cannibal. As the New World was beginning to open up to Europeans, their discoveries of new tribes engendered a fear and fascination of the unknown. When Trinculo comes across Caliban, he wishes he were in England where people would pay good money to see a dead Indian. The practice of displaying the mummified bodies of tribal people began as an entertainment attraction but continued well into the late twentieth century as standard museum practice. Caliban is also a savage in the sense that he has lived without parents, fending for himself on the island; the ultimate feral child. Calibaun is also a Roma gypsy word for black. A Slave The Tempest is often regarded as a comment on colonialism. The huge colonies of the British Empire were at their earliest stages of exploration when it was written. Shakespeare would have read the accounts of the settlers in Virginia who in 1610 nearly perished, but for the assistance of the local Indians who showed them where to fish and how to cultivate local plants such as maize. Like Caliban, they soon regretted the welcome they gave to those who became their oppressors. Meanwhile the trans- Atlantic slave trade was in its infancy, the first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619, three years after Shakespeare s death, but the enslavement of both indigenous people and Africans in South America and the Caribbean had already begun. A Young Man with a Disability Caliban is described as having a physical disability and facial disfigurement. The deeply ingrained associations between disability and evil are present in Shakespeare s text. The word mooncalf was used to describe the aborted foetus of a cow and occasionally a human, and came from the belief that deformities were caused by the sinister influence of the moon on the developing foetus. Caliban himself lifts his character out of the negative stereotype both by the defence of his individuality and the nobility of the language with which he describes the Island. Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked, I cried to dream again. -Act 3, Scene 2 9

11 CHARACTER PROFILE Who Is Miranda? An innocent Miranda knows nothing of the world beyond the island and is fascinated by the novelty of Ferdinand and later the brave new world that is peopled by human men. She is unaware of her own beauty, having nothing to compare herself with and is guileless in the art of flirting. Her attraction to Ferdinand is natural and unsophisticated. An Intellectual Prospero has educated his daughter and she in turn has taught Caliban. She is revealed to the King and nobles playing chess with Ferdinand. This has been carefully planned by Prospero, to show her prospective father-in-law that she will be an intellectually equal partner to Ferdinand. A Strong Minded Young Woman Miranda is not a passive romantic figure and she shows her determination when she tells Ferdinand, I ll be your servant, whether you will or no. Beneath the Veil In our production Miranda is covered in accordance with the custom of the Muslim countries in which our production is set. Head covering and veiling of women existed in Jewish and Christian culture before the beginning of Islam: St. Paul saw the covering of a woman s hair as an important symbol of men s authority over women. In the Qu ran, the injunction to cover one s hair is to ensure that both men and women should behave with modesty and that women are protected: O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their bodies (when abroad) so that they should be known and not molested Qu ran 33:59 A Daughter Like many fairy tale daughters, she is without a mother and intensely loyal to her father. Do not smile at me that I boast her off, For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise And make it halt behind her. Prospero Act IV Sci Miranda photo: Talula Sheppard 10

12 CHARACTER PROFILE Who is Ariel? A Djinn Aladdin (an adaptation of the Arabic نيدلا ءالع Alā' ad-dīn) is able to summon the djinni (from where we get the English word genie) from his magic lamp. Like Ariel, the djinni has been promised freedom when he has done Aladdin s bidding. The Djinn existed in Arabic folklore before Islam and were spirits of smokeless fire their name probably comes from the word junna, meaning angry or possessed. We also get the word genius from the word djinn and Ariel s intelligence is paramount in his relationship with Prospero. An Air Spirit Ariel s name suggests that his element is air, but this not a soft and wispy breeze, rather the wind of storms and typhoons. Shakespeare gives him the name Ariel because he can fly, while all the other characters are earth bound. A man or a woman? In the original text Ariel is male but as Shakespeare s original actors were all men, cross-gender casting in a contemporary production calls attention to the fact that Ariel is not human and is capable of changing shape at any time, so is not bound to one gender body or another. A Spirit with Free Will Although Ariel is obedient to Prospero, he has asserted his free will under the servitude of the witch Sycorax and refused to follow her abhorred commands. Unfortunately this has landed him in the trunk of a pine tree for twelve years, trapped and crying out in pain. His service to Prospero is not like the slavery of Caliban and he is able to nudge Prospero s conscience when his revenge has gone far enough. A Stage Manager Prospero s controlling hand is often regarded as the allegorical hand of the playwright or the director. In this analogy, Ariel becomes the stage manager, doing his bidding to create the spectacular visual effects of St. Elmo s Fire dancing in the rigging or the banquet laid out before the shipwrecked nobles. 11

13 THE TEMPEST AS THEATRE Commedia The Tempest fits very well into the pattern of a Commedia Dell Arte play, which often featured a Magus and his daughter. Commedia Dell Arte all Improviso - meaning the improvised comedy of the art, or the profession - originated in Italy as early as 1300 and flourished in 16 th and 17 th century Europe. The plays were performed by professional, travelling troupes, using improvised dialogue and variations on basic plots told by stock characters. Stephano and Trinculo are typical of the stock comic characters Arlecchino and Brighella. The slapstick comedy business of Caliban and Trinculo hiding under the cloth is typical of the physicality of Commedia performances. Caliban corresponds with Pulcinella, a lecherous hunchback, while Miranda and Prospero could easily be the clever, beautiful Isabella and her rich and scheming father, Pantelone, always on the look out for the most advantageous marriage prospects for his daughter. Theatre Magic Like many of Shakespeare s plays, The Tempest comments on the nature of theatre itself. Prospero plays director, with Ariel as his stage manager; his players are the puppets manipulated by his powers of sorcery. The Elizabethan magician John Dee was also interested in the magic of the theatre and as a young man he created a flying machine for a play at Trinity College Cambridge. Although it was simply a feat of engineering, its ability to carry a man onto the roof cemented his reputation for dabbling in the black arts. As Prospero explains below, the real magic of theatre is the unique blend of the physical and the metaphysical of our imaginations. Our revels now are ended. These are actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn terraces, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rock behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Act IV Sci At the end of the play Prospero reminds us that his fictional self is trapped in the story and can only be released by the applause of the audience, just as he frees Ariel and Al-Addin frees his djinn, we clap our hands and let him go. 12

14 SHAKESPEARE S LIFE AND WORK Year Shakespeare s Life Works Key Events 1564 Shakespeare Born Christopher Marlowe born John Hawkins second voyage to New World 1582 Shakespeare Married Hakluyt's Dievers Voyages Touching the Discovery of America 1583 Birth of daughter Susanna The Queen's Company formed in London 1585 Birth of twins, Judith and Hamnet 1587(?)-1592 Departure from Stratford Establishment in London as an actor/playwright The Comedy of Errors Titus Andronicus The Taming of the Shrew Henry VI, 1,2,3 Richard III 1593 Venus and Adonis Begins writing the Sonnets, probably completed by c.1597 or earlier Two Gentlemen of Verona Love's Labour's Lost 1594 Founding member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men Prosperity and recognition as the leading London playwright 1596 Hamnet Shakespeare dies aged Purchases New Place, Stratford The Globe Theater built on Bankside. Shakespeare is a shareholder and receives about 10% of the profits Shakespeare's father dies 1603 The Lord Chamberlain's Men, now The King's Men, perform at court more than any other company 1608 Shakespeare's mother dies The Rape of Lucrece Midsummer Night's Dream Romeo and Juliet Richard II Merchant of Venice Henry IV,1,2 The Merry Wives of Windsor As You Like It Much Ado About Nothing Henry V Julius Caesar Twelfth Night Hamlet Troilus & Cressida Alls Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Clepatra Coriolanus Timon of Athens Publication of the Sonnets Pericles Prince of Tyre Cymbeline The Winter's Tale The Tempest 1588 Defeat of the Armada 1588 Marlowe's Dr. Faustus 1593 Marlowe dies Theatres closed by plague 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh explores the Orinoco 1597 Bacon's Essays, Civil and Moral 1598 John Florio's A World of Words (English-Italian dictionary) 1603 Elizabeth dies, James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh arrested, tried and imprisoned 1603 The plague once again ravages London 1605 The Gunpowder Plot - Guy Fawkes and accomplices arrested 1607 The founding of Jamestown, Virginia, first permanent English settlement in America 1609 The Sea Venture shipwrecked off the Bermudas on the way to Virginia 1623 April 23, 1616 Shakespeare dies and is buried at Holy trinity Church, Stratford 1610 Prince Henry created Prince of Wales Ben Jonson The Alchemist 1623 Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio 13

15 FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES An Ideal Society In Act ii Scene i Gonzalo describes his ideal society where: All things in common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour: treason felony, Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine, Would I not have: but nature should bring forth, Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance, To feed my innocent people. In small groups discuss how you could make Gonzalo s dream come true. What would your ideal society be like? Write a short piece to describe it. The Isle is Full of Noises Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not, Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears: and sometimes voices Create a soundscape of Prospero s magical island. If you have access to a keyboard and recording equipment, create a soundtrack for the scene where Stephano and Trinculo are afraid of Ariel s music. If you are going for a low-tech approach, gather up items which will create sound, for example, glass bottles to blow across, elastic bands, rainsticks made from cardboard tubing and filled with dry lentils. Include the voice, humming and non-vocal sounds to create an inhuman, eerie effect. Design Your Own Goddesses In the Masque the Spirits appear as three Goddesses, Ceres, goddess of the fertile earth, Juno, queen of the heavens and Iris, messenger of the gods. In our production we have explored the goddesses of pre-muslim Arabia, al- Uzza, al-laat and al-mannat. If you were to set The Tempest in your contemporary world or your own community, what would the three goddesses look like? Could you build puppet sized goddesses using found objects? 14

16 WRITING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE Why does a director make certain choices? How do the lighting, costume and set help to tell the story? Watch carefully and write notes after the play. These questions will help you: THE STAGE Q: What can you see on the stage? COSTUME Q: What colours and styles are being used? Q: What else do the costumes tell us about the characters? LIGHTING Q: What colours and shades of colour are being used? Q: What levels of brightness are being used and why? Q: When do the lights change? THE PERFORMERS Q: In this production of The Tempest, the actors double up their parts (see the CAST page) When you watch the play, why do you think the director chose to pair the characters in this particular way? Remember there are both practical and thematic reasons. Q: How do actors vary their movement, gesture, facial expression to show they are playing different roles? Q: How do the actors use the set? Q: How do the actors relate to the audience? AND LASTLY BUT MOST IMORTANTLY Q: What does the play make you think, feel, want to talk about? 15

17 FURTHER RESOURCES Weblinks (includes news and information about the company and our current shows, archive information about previous shows and a downloadable version of this pack and packs from previous shows) The following websites provide useful information but please note: Tara Arts is not responsible for their content or availability. has several lesson plans and schemes of work for teaching The Tempest in the English curriculum Teacher s Guide to the Tempest including detailed synopsis and imaginative preparation activities. Books The Tempest by William Shakespeare, various editions. Films Shakespeare The Animated Tales (1992) British- Russian co-production, excellent animation and accessible telling of the stories. Available from the National Theatre Bookshop and various online retailers. Prospero s Books Peter Greenaway (1991) starring john Gielgud, adaptation of The Tempest, best viewed after seeing or reading the play. 16

18 FEEDBACK FORM If you have found this pack useful as an introduction to the production, please take a moment to give us your feedback. What course are your students studying (level/examining body?) Which sections did you use with your students before seeing the play? Which sections did you use with your students after seeing the play? Was the level of this pack appropriate for your students? Is there any other information you would have liked to enhance your students experience of seeing this production? Any other comments? Please return TARA ARTS at the address below 17