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“How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it!”
The Tempest is an enchanting mix of Shakespearean fairy story, comedy, and drama, all rolled in to one island adventure!
A storm. A shipwreck. Spirits of the air and monsters of the island. A wizard scorned and a coterie stranded. Love, revenge, magic and buffoonery, The Tempest is an Island tale that plays with theatrical convention as much as with character. The exiled Prospero ex Duke of Milan and a powerful wizard, with the aid of his elemental magic shipwrecks the King of Naples with his son and brother, as well as the usurper of his own title, his own brother on the island he himself was exiled to. With his daughter Miranda, elemental servant Ariel, and his begrudging monster slave Caliban, Prospero puppeteers revenge upon all of those who wronged him as well as lays the foundation for his grand return from exile. Thought to be one of Shakespeare's final independently written plays and his farewell to the stage, The Tempest is a grand affair that labours on the wonder and magic of storytelling and the stage. 
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Poised perfectly as a comparison study to Margaret Atwood's
"Hag-seed", The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's plays most perfectly designed to be pulled in to the modern era, with easily translatable themes and components that are built for modern discourse. The Tempest provides a rare multi dimensional conglomeration of characters, scenario's, and themes as well as remaining digestible and fun for modern audiences. Our interpretation of The Tempest embraces the idea of the stage and the theatre being a place of magic and wonder and utilizes effects and conventions plucked from throughout performance history to help create a world of tricks and fun, with Punch and Judy style puppets, junk percussion, and vaudevillian stage tricks, we aim to create a world of analogue wonder on our very own island. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life, is rounded with a sleep."
The Dire Theatre Company's The Tempest has been work shopped and devised with the assistance of not only professional performers, but currently working Department of Education English and Drama teachers to help make the text entertaining for students as well as accessible for academic exploration.
Download our info pack for details on pricing and the project.
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INCITE CHANGE. WITHOUT FEAR.
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"The desire to create new art should always surpass the desire to replicate popular art". |