The Tempest - RSC

When haven't I been ? A cast member told me it was transferring, it was in their contract.

Oh you have spoilt it now! You had a mole. You going to this?

Report as promised: I liked this Tempest very much. The much trailed technology is used intelligently. The idea is that Ariel is creating and controlling the effects of himself appearing. Well, hard to explain but it isn't just flashy. Ariel very well acted with beautiful movement (Mark Quartley) a nice partnership with SRB. SRB- what can one say? It is as if the part was written for him with our Will sitting in the back of the stalls saying, 'S'ok, Simon can do that...'

Happy to add more if people want but gotta catch up with Strictly now.

Saw this tonight and really enjoyed it. SRB excellent as Prospero and his last speech to the audience very moving. I thought both Joe Dixon and Mark Quartley as Caliban and Ariel were also excellent. The technology and lighting effects work really well with the basic set of the inside of a ship.If you can't get to Stratford to see it go to the Barbican when it's on there.

RSC top level members booking is open - Barbican members booking is tomorrow (for member plus) and Friday for normal members. Public booking Monday I think. Ticket prices are £10 to £75 ("limited number of premium £75 seats") but I've not found a seating plan yet. Any RSC members able to see one?

Past experience is that for initial booking the auditorium will be split down the middle, and RSC sells one half, Barbican the other.

The £10 RSC tickets are in row C - rows A and B not on sale this morning - and in general the tickets they are selling are to the right (facing the stage)

Thanks

Took four 16/17-year olds to see The Tempest at the RSC yesterday. Much discussion followed, including sharp observations (one at college studying theatre). For those interested in teen views, here are 4 teen critics...

1: Wanted the stripped-back and bare versions of the play in the style at the Globe (pre-Rice) with 'actors in the raw' without props, so they were going to be difficult to please ... Teen critic complained about the opening scene with the actors not moving while the ship sloshes about ... they wanted the physicality of the actors bashing themselves about the stage and hanging onto ropes, as one would presumably do in a real Tudor storm; they thought the beginning showed the actors over-relying on the cinematic experience, or acting so as not to be in conflict with it. I think they ended the evening quietly impressed and won over by the beautiful brightness of colour and the imaginative use of image, but after they'd begun by whining 'This is not cinema, I want theatre' then it was hard to come back from that.

2. 'Stunning' Hugely impressed by the riot of colour and image; they enjoyed Ariel's turn as a hologram but complained about image twitching - we couldn't decide whether these were momentary glitches or a deliberate fractioning of movement to echo a style of electrical interference, Ariel being a spirit of the air, an'all (the latter interpretation is fine by me).

3. Enjoyed the costuming generally; very appreciative of the bones of the ship and how adaptable that was as a set; thought the Caliban costume was 'great' and loved the attention to detail on Caliban's fingers and fish fins; also loved how the characters on the island seemed to get muddy feet as they went though the play, as if showing they really were on an island; loved how the play had a bit of everything - opera, slapstick, anguished screaming and frivolity.

4. Found a lot to think about in the relationship of Prospero and Ariel, as in Prospero seemed to love Ariel more than he loved being a wizard conjuring spells with a stick (and who wouldn't want that?); commented how Russell Beale's performance brings out the menacing side of Prospero - they've previously seen Roger Allam in the role and they noted how very different were the interpretations. In the Allam version Prospero came over as resigned but bearing grudges, impetuous and given to rash judgement; with Russell Beale, Prospero comes across as much more considered: no-one wanted to get on the wrong side of him because he'd be vengeful and dangerous. As Prospero screams in Ariel's face, we all felt here was someone with such internal rage and sorrow, he'd be capable of anything.

Personally, I loved the presentation of this play. I thought the combination of sound and light and image was a knockout wonder, and I loved how it brought back the Masque to a proper status, and seems to mark a moment when we can have a new way to explore imaginative theatrescapes. I'd love to see it again in the cinema run, to compare how it works on a screen. Simon Russell Beale is wonderful, and I didn't feel the acting was at all compromised or weakened by the image show. So, from me, a lovely, lovely show. Moving, and visually WOW.

I went last night and enjoyed it. Didn't LOVE it, but I enjoyed it a lot more than some other recent Shakespeares I've seen. I really liked Ariel and SRB, especially SRB's last speech, as others have said. I also really liked Miranda and the bloke she fell in love with. I think the special effects for the backdrops, skies, water, northern lights and so on were beautiful, and the floor was especially beautiful. I liked how it looked like a sandy beach with ridges and rivulets of water, and then later it lit up from underneath like lava. The ship set was gorgeous too. I wasn't fussed about Ariel's projections though, as I found it distracting and not really necessary - Ariel was magical enough as he was. I really didn't like Caliban as he just reminded me of that awful Peter Kay monster in Doctor Who, and overall I found the plot really quite confusing. I was never really sure who was who's brother and who had betrayed who.

Oh, and did anyone else think that the curly haired one in the blue jacket looked like a young Colin Baker?

Have bought a couple of sets of nice central £10 seats as Xmas gifts - and one for me of course

Me too! ☺

I would just say Jean that the Barbican seating is very wide and an aisle seat is really on the side. Also the special effects are best seen from centre.