Shakespeare gets stormy at The Watermill

THE TEMPEST By William Shakespeare will be at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury from Thursday 27 September to Saturday 3 November.

Director Paul Hart’s new and thrilling version of Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST features original music by leading composer Olly Fox, performed live on stage, together with puppetry and shadow play.

Marooned on an island for 12 years, Prospero the exiled Duke of Milan, plans to reinstate his daughter Miranda to her rightful place.  A storm and shipwreck casts his usurping brother onto the island bringing new life to his plans. THE TEMPEST is a remarkable study of betrayal, forgiveness, humanity and human existence.

Paul Hart is fascinated by this play ‘The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most experimental plays and in staging this new production we aim to meet this spirit in creating a piece that is bold, sensitive and full of life. It's a great homecoming as Shakespeare works so well in The Watermill and his late plays best of all. I can't think of a theatre closer in spirit to what the Blackfriars would probably have been, in which Shakespeare's final plays were performed. The intimate small space allows for a discussion of ideas that thrills the mind and a brilliant theatricality to excite the senses. This production will push the boundaries of how we create the desert island of the play. We'll be using music, movement and sound as well as exploring the idea of chorus to create this magical world. We have an extraordinary company led by the brilliant Shakespearean actor Michael Hadley whose recent credits include RICHARD II and KING LEAR at the Donmar Warehouse.’

Director Paul Hart’s work at The Watermill Theatre includes of GREAT EXPECTATIONS and HEROES, both of which were well received. His revival of HOIS CLOIS at The Trafalgar Studios, London, received national critical acclaim.

Olly Fox has composed over 100 scores for theatre productions, many radio plays, television and short films in collaboration with the National Theatre, RSC, Royal Court, Shakespeare’s Globe, Channel 4, BBC, Endemol, Discovery Channel and Serious Pictures.

The company is James Allen (Stephano), Jeff Alexander (Alonso) Jonathan Christie (Ferdinand), Tim Chipping (Caliban), Greer Dale-Foulkes (Miranda), Jessica Dyas (Iris), Stephen Finegold (Antonio), Michael Hadley (Prospero), Aoife McMahon (Ariel), Tarek Merchant (Trinculo), Eamonn O’Dwyer (Sebastian) and Johnson Willis (Gonzalo).