My first show of 2025 is The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Dury Lane. This was my first visit to the the theatre since it’s £60 million refurbishment that occurred over the COVID period. It opened following the pandemic with Frozen which has now given pass to The tempest.
I was very impressed with the refurbishments of the theatre as a whole. Now when you enter you instantly get the same impression and feel of when you walk into the London Coliseum. The auditorium itself has been renovated but not modernised which is a very nice touch. The majority of the costing must have come from the foyer areas which are now unrecognisable and very impressive. The Theatre Royal Dury Lane now has to be one of if not the best theatre foyers in the West End.
The tempest opened on 7th December 2024 and is scheduled to close on 1st February 2025. However is the first in the Jamie Lloyd company Shakespeare season at the theatre royal with Much to do about nothing to follow next month. I assume an opportunity that has betrothed the Jamie Loyd company after the huge success of Sunset Boulevard with Andrew Lloyd Webber. As this was a thank you from ALW to host this Shakespeare season in one of his best theatres. My seat for this production was in stalls in seat F23.
I will keep the synopsis for this review very brief as it is a very well-known Shakespeare play. However, one that I personally had not studied or seen before. Which meant that I have no comparison to make for this production.
After a storm magicked by Prospero (Sigourney Weaver) creates a shipwreck which strands the King of Naples Alonso (Jude Akuwudike), his son Ferdinand (James Phoon) and Sebastian (Oliver Ryan). Along with Gonzalo (Selina Cadell) and Prospero brother Antonio (Tim Steed). We learn of the link between Prospero and the others along with the introduction of Caliban (Forbes Masson) the monster like charecter who inhabits the island. Ferdinand instantly falls in love with Miranda (Mara Huf) who is Prosperos daughter. It is at this point we are introduced to Ariel (Mason Alexander Park) who is Prosperos sprit like servant. Stepheno (Jason Barnett), Trinculo (Mathew Horne) along with Caliban dominante the scenes which ends with their intent to kill Prosperos which fails due to Ariel’s intervention and a trap, results in them abandoning all hopes in a drunken frenzy. The finale sees Miranda and Ferdinand together and all other characters free to continue their lives as Prospero gives up on magic.
I have to mention that during this show I did encounter one of the very few mid show stops. This was due to a microphone issue which plagued Selina Cadell during her opening dialogue and continued with James Phoon at which point the show was stopped about twenty five minutes into it. However thankfully the backstage and sound Engineers were able to resolve the issue in around five minutes and the show resumed with no further issues.
As mentioned this is part of the Jamie Lloyd company Shakespeare season. With Jamie LLoyd directing and the Jamie LLoyd company as producers. I was very excited to see what Jamie could do with Shakespeare after the huge success of Sunset Boulevard. Which as per my review here I could not speak highly enough of Jamie Lloyd genius production and direction. However I am afraid to say this production did not meet the extremely high standards I set it before hand. I will delve into why that is throughout this review.
To start with I found the general story very hard to follow based solely on this production, I was pleased to have read a brief synopsis beforehand. Which gave me a slight fighting chance to grasp what was going on. This lack of story telling was obviously not from the writing but how it was portrayed on stage.
The set design as per what seems to be Jamie Lloyd signature was extremely minimalist. With just a large rock formation making up the island which never moved or altered. With no other set pieces and just the rocks engulfing the whole stage including all wings and backstage again like Sunset, highlighted just how vast these theatre stages are. There was no attempt of hiding the wing or rear stage spaces as lighting rigs where visible throughout the production. This did unlike Sunset make it feel like you were watching a show not fully ready for a live audience. The large cloth shown in the view from my seat picture above was used a few times throughout the production in an attempt to give the stage and some scenes some depth which did work surprisingly well.
As per Sunset such basic staging meant that lighting and sound were relied very heavily on. However, the lighting design for this production was very simple but was very effective and at certain stages able to create scene and mood changes with just a lighting change. Strong sound and lighting changes were able to add drama and tension throughout the show which without them there would have been none.
Again in very Jamie Lloyd fashion there were no real costume changes throughout the show. While the costume design seemed suited to the production and setting era. The lack of props also did not help with the struggling story telling. As like many Shakespeare plays there is lots of reference to props like swords and different clothing. However in this production there were no props and all references were simply mimed by the actors. Again giving to a feeling that you were watching a production that is not fully ready. The minimalist approach did not work for this Shakespeare play. The only prop throughout the whole production was a stool in which Sigourney Weaver sat on throughout most of the production. I did not strike me that this was for the story of production but more to allow Weaver to have the ability to sit down on stage.
Talking about Sigourney Weaver. I was very disappointed with her performance. Her diction and speech throughout the whole show was very poor. Which when performing in the west end is important but none more so than when attempting Shakespeare. Along with her speaking issues her general performance seemed very one dimensional. I am not sure if this is suited to the character of Prospero. Even if it was, there were definite points when the energy and enthusiasm should have changed however with Weaver it did not. Her performance is a prime example of why I have concerns over “celebrity” or famous casting. It really goes to show that film and theatre is very different. The main take away from Weaver performance was how it highlights how difficult Shakespeare is to perform on a West End stage.
Apart from Weaver there were some other very well known names from within the world of theatre. The first being Mason Alexander Park who played Ariel. Her performance was perfection. Exactly what you needed and expected from this character of the angel sprit type. Mason is more known for her musical theatre credits which were not ignored during this production. With some perfect acapella singing which provided a haunting mood to some scenes. It seemed to me that Jamie Lloyd was able to flex his creative muscles with not only the character but with Mason as an actor as well. Asking of her the singing and to spend most of the time suspended above the other actors. This character and performance really give you a taste of what could have been if more creative attention was portrayed across the rest of the production.
Another recognisable name and face to most UK audiences was Mathew Horne. I was aware Mathew has done endless theatre productions in the West End. However was still very surprised by his ability. The performance as one half of the comedy characters of Trinculo and Stephano. Was brilliant the ability to turn Shakespeare words into comedic scenes was very impressive. He was able to bounce off Jason Barnett very well and both made their scenes a pleasure to watch and some light relief during the very confusing production. They were also supported by Forbes Masson playing the monster who really came into his own with them during these scenes.
The rest of the supporting cast including Selina Cadell, Oliver Ryan and Tim Steed were very good and exactly what I would expect from a Shakespeare production on the West End. The clarity, diction and passion was extremely good. For me some “proper” old school Shakespeare actors.
Overall I give this production 2 out of 5 stars. It showed glimmers of what Jamie Lloyd genius could do. However even the great supporting cast and Mason Alexander Park performance could not save Sigourney Weaver in this confusing and underwhelming Jamie Lloyd company production of the Tempest.
Further details of this show and others at the theatre royal including the remaining of the Jamie Lloyd Shakespeare season can be found on the Theatre Royal Dury Lane website.
A SPURDLE reviews 