The Tempest

Published Friday 28 September 2007 at 16:50 by Nuala Calvi

Asian theatre company Tara’s startling new production of The Tempest makes Shakespeare’s last play feel as if it were written especially for our troubled times.

Prospero, reinvented as a quasi-terrorist figure who can manipulate the skies better than any 9/11 hijacker, reminds us of the perils of a single-minded desire for vengeance, yet also the terrorist’s own pathetic vulnerability.

His desire to keep Miranda from the world is given directly religious undertones as he forces her to don the veil, the oppressed oppressing its own in a cycle of torment.

Jatinder Verma’s refreshingly multicultural casting makes the island feel like a true place of exile, ringing with English, Asian, African and West Indian voices that speak of other lands.

Claudia Mayer’s cage-like design emphasises the characters’ mutual entrapment, both physical and mental, although its hanging ropes prove rather impractical and burdensome in places.

Free-standing wooden boards around the walls also somehow detract from the magical nature of the play and wobble distractingly at times.

The six-strong cast double up impressively, with particularly strong performances from Chris Jack as the love-struck Ferdinand and plotter Sebastian, and Jessica Manley as Miranda/Alonso.