This exciting version situates The Tempest in our modern world and sets the island at the heart of a bitter political power struggle between two strong, foreign powers: Prospero and Antonio. Locked in civil war over the fate of Milan, the two have been fighting for years, with Prospero eventually defeated and exiled by his brother. When Antonio and his company are ambushed in a navy battle and washed up on the island, they are suddenly in the clutches of Prospero, who is reaching an endgame which he hopes will finally put an end to the war and restore him to his lost position of power.
This interpretation situates the island at the heart of a proxy war and casts its inhabitants as victims in a conflict which came to their shores without warning. How they cope with occupation is key to how the play unfolds. In our vision of the play, the tempest itself is war, global politics and geopolitical strife. It is a tempest which sweeps across the world, and it seems as relevant as ever in our modern world.
Tickets for The Tempest on May 9th and 10th are available to purchase from The Casa on Hope Street.