PLAYING WITH THE PLAY: A METATHEATRICAL TEMPEST

By Lara Kennedy | LinkedIn ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

Shakespeare’s final solo play is typically treated with reverence. Prospero is deemed a vessel for Shakespeare himself, with his control of the stage and breaking of the fourth wall. This Tempest at the candle-lit Globe Playhouse flips this on its head. From the outset, the production is unapologetically metatheatrical, to the point where you begin to think your neighbour, or the person you came with, is seconds away from getting up on stage in costume. This play isn’t just aware of the theatre, it is actively playing with it. Director Tim Crouch toys with Shakespeare’s text (re-distributing lines) the architecture of the Playhouse, and the audience’s position within it, until the entire room feels complicit in the storytelling.

The indoor setting is crucial. Where the open-air Globe invites spectacle, the Playhouse draws us inward. Flickering candlelight reshapes faces, invites darkness, and the intimacy of the room blurs the boundaries between actor and observer. At times it feels less like watching a play and more like inhabiting one. Audience interaction punctuates the performance throughout, with characters climbing over seats, audience members, and barriers, reinforcing the sense that the theatre itself is part of Prospero’s land.

One of the most effective reinterpretations comes in the transformation of Antonio into Antonia, a modern, vindictive, hilarious sister whose jealousy and priorities feel recognisably human, rather than theatrically villainous. The gender switch feels realistic and contemporary. A simple adjustment that pays off richly.

Miranda, too, is a triumph. Rather than the usual ethereal innocence, she is portrayed (rightly so) as a girl starved of society: curious, impulsive, awkward, excitable, and gloriously unpredictable. There is something raw and deeply believable about her energy – a young woman both fascinated by and resistant to the world suddenly opening before her.

Caliban, however, is less successful in performance, though conceptually intriguing. His strength lies not in physicality, but in language. The use of Malay, with Miranda acting as translator, subtly implies years of shared history we never see onstage. It suggests an intimacy and complexity that the play’s compressed, Aristotelian timeline rarely allows. His England football shirt is a quietly brilliant touch: heartbreaking, amusing, political, and poignant.

For all its inventiveness, this Tempest sacrifices some of the play’s traditional magic and melancholy. The dreamlike, ‘it was all a story’ framing ultimately diminishes Prospero’s authority. When his famous closing speech arrives feels oddly reduced in humility.

Still, this is a bold and immersive interpretation. It may not feel like Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage, but it feels a little like a love letter to theatre and playmaking itself. This Tempest is less about sorcery and redemption, and more about performance, space, and the irrevocably human tradition of storytelling.

The Tempest is running at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre until Sunday 12 April.

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Photo Credit: Marc Brenner