The Tempest

Setting The Tempest on an old sailing ship is both a sensory delight for the audience and a brave new world for actors.  

The 100-year-old Southern Swan is a beautiful vessel carved from Danish oak that is exciting to board with the central action taking place around the main mast.

At the performance I attended there was an actual storm lurking in the distance which whipped up into a heavy downpour. Members of the audience (forewarned to wear raincoats) were huddled under a tarpaulin on the deck as the actors were lashed by the rain. The poor weather meant that the actors were a little cramped and the show stopping moment of Ariel climbing the mast was not able to proceed but will happen at other performances.

At times the actors had to squeeze past the crew doing their duties of hoisting the sails and keeping a watchful eye on other vessels.

But the language of Shakespeare was more resonant on a rainy night (“My storm is my own…enter if you dare”) and the opening scene where a violent storm sinks a ship was pitch perfect. 

Much of the dialogue took place right in front of the audience with the actors almost close enough to see the veins on the whites of their eyes.

To draw a cricketing analogy if a full staged version of The Tempest is a test match, then this was the 20/20 version. The play was performed by four actors in a ninety-minute edition that was interspersed with the waiter delivering us nice nibbles.

Whilst none of the language was simplified the narrative was trimmed but it was done skilfully enough to get a sense of a good chunk of the story and themes.

Charles Mayer played the central character of Prospero, Sontaan Hopson doubled as the fairy Ariel and Prospero’s daughter, Alec Ebert played the charismatic Ferdinand and Jo Bloom was principally the witch Caliban, an amalgam of many characters.

A sumptuous soundscape from Brandon Read and few basic stage effects added to the magic of the evening.

This was a terrific introduction to the world of a tall ship and an intimate way to sample one of Shakespeare’s great plays.

David Spicer

Southern Swan Tall Ship sailing Sydney harbour at sunset: 3, 4, 10, 11 January: The Tempest

Other performances from Come You Spirits
The Haven, The Barricade, Castlecrag. 17 December–15 January: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth

Cooper Park Reserve Woollahra (daytime) 5, 6, 12, 13 January: A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Romeo & Juliet.