This RSC production with Simon Russell-Beale is stunning in its employment of technology. The opening shipwreck is graphically portrayed - to the extent that it is quite hard to hear all the lines. Luckily, they don't particularly matter and it is the arrival of Prospero (S R-B) that brings us up to date. His acting together with that of Joe dixon as Caliban and Mark Quartley as Ariel stood out.
The tale itself of Prospero's revenge on his disloyal brother and the Neapolitans is - I thought - made worthwhile by Prospero's eventual decision to put aside his outrage and reconcile with his enemies. Otherwise, I was left musing that it was Shakespeare on drugs. The tale turns on Prospero's magical powers and his employment of the invisible sprite Ariel. Maybe I am missing some profound analogy but I did not think it the bard's finest.
Nonetheless, with suspended belief systems, it was an enjoyable evening and made great by the acting and the technology. I cannot imagine how awful an amateur production might be, however.
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