I have seen more bad productions of The Tempest than good ones. Ironically, the best productions were in Russian (directed by Declan Donnellan), in Japanese (directed by Yukio Ninagawa) and on film (in Peter Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books).
Jamie Lloyd’s production is among the worst I have seen when it comes to diction, characterisation and comprehension. The text has been much edited. There is no visible shipwreck, no banquet, no spirits. The actual masque has been completely cut. There are no goddesses, no nymphs, no reapers, no singing, no dancing.
The island has always been open to endless interpretations. It could be paradise, hell, a dream, a nightmare, even the real world. Here, the island, which is designed by Soutra Gilmour, is so bleak, so rocky, we could be in outer space. It is not an enchanting place. This isle is also full of ugly noises and sounds which delight not.
The reason actors want to play Prospero is because of the great arias, which all come in the latter part of the play. The verse is thrilling.
Sigourney Weaver got a standing ovation from an audience who seemed to be totally unaware how bad her performance is. She does not know how to speak Shakespeare’s verse. The voice is as flat as the acting. There is no potency in her Prospero. For much of the play she sits on a stool centre stage, silently watching the poor acting going on around her.
Caliban, the half-human creature, is revolting. The bare chest and the bare legs and the corset and the large black leather pants he wears make him look like a drag artist in his underwear. The clowns are not funny. The lovers are dull. The villains are dull. Gonzalo has been turned into a woman.
The best performance is by American actor Mason Alexander Park, who plays Ariel, the airy spirit, who flies down from the rafters and hangs above Prospero. Park is a fierce harpy with a powerful singing voice, which is used to good effect when denouncing three men of sin.
There are magical effects in Jamie Lloyd’s production, such as the enormous billowing black silk which is brilliantly lit by Jon Clark and then there is the cast circling Prospero in the final scene; but there are not enough of them.
Incidentally, the last time Shakespeare was played at Drury Lane was in 1958 when John Gielgud played Prospero in Peter Brook’s production of The Tempest. If you want to hear Shakespeare’s verse thrillingly delivered, you can hear Gielgud deliver Prospero’s three great speeches by following this link.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website. 
