THE TEMPEST
W. Shakespeare
The Tempest has been chosen by the British Council to be included in their international “Shakespeare Lives” program.
The production of The Tempest received the support of the Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg.
ACTORS ELIOT GIURALAROCCA, SASHA BEHAR
STAGING SERGE AYALA
MUSICIANS KATY ELKIN, JUAN ULIBARRI, IDOIA BENGOA, NICOLAS MUZY, ESTEBAN MAZER
LIGHTING AUGUST VILODOMAT
ASSISTANCE/COLLABORATION LUCA FRANCESCHI
"An imaginative and thought-provoking production"
Chronicle Luxembourg
On a faraway enchanted island, the stage is set for plots of revenge and forgiveness, in this, the last and also the most musical play that Shakespeare penned. His eloquent verse is imaginatively reunited with its forgotten melodies as British actors Eliot Giuralarocca and Sasha Behar join five musicians from the early music ensemble Le Tendre Amour under the direction of Esteban Mazer and Katy Elkin. Exactly 400 years later, a multitude of colorful instruments that Shakespeare himself would have known and heard accompany this classic tale with both haunting beauty and foot-stomping rhythms. A magical storm wreaks havoc, and washed to shore is a motley crew of royalty, servants, and drunks. Add a submissive fairy spirit, an innocent tale of true love, a revengeful half-monster slave, a double murder plot, some drunken comedy, and an unforgettable tale of magic and fantasy unfolds. But not only is The Tempest a playground for the imagination and perhaps even Shakespeare´s thinly disguised farewell to the theatre, it is also a stage for debates about authority and misused power that ring true still today.
Our Tempest is an original adaptation of Shakespeare´s work where the creative combination of music and prose create an unforgettable tale of fantasy. Two virtuosic Shakespearean British actors play all 9 roles in the play while 17 colorful Renaissance instruments interact and perform the music Shakespeare himself intended for this magical work, following years of research in the subject. Inspired by commedia dell´arte in its use of masks and simple, rustic props, our Tempest is a literal playground for the imagination. From shocking Renaissance sound effects to curiously familiar Irish folk melodies, surprises abound at every turn as the listener is whisked away to a time of spells and spirits.