The
Tempest Ex-Young PleasanceThe newly
formed Ex-Young Pleasance recreate the story of Shakespeare's 'The
Tempest' in an hour. This new initiative seeks to provide a support
network for graduates of Young Pleasance who wanted to bring a show to
the Fringe. This is their own, completely self-adapted, written and
produced version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, performed by the
all-male cast Jonathan Burch, Danny Fisher, Jack Hartnell, William
Irwin, Rupert Littlewood, James McNicholas and Robert Samuelson.
William Irwin who is Prospero aside, all the
other performers play at least one main character in addition to Ariel
and Caliban. This in theory is intriguing and interesting, in reality I
did find it on occasion confusing. They also doubled the characters
Alonzo & Trinculo played by James McNicholas and Gonzalo &
Stephano played by Jack Hartnell. There are several scenes, which flash
between Alonzo with Gonzalo, and Triculo with Stephano, they do use two
simple props to demonstrate which character is which, but as the scenes
swap back and forward so quickly I can’t fathom how the actors don’t
get confused.
At first I questioned the casting of the show
on visual impression, would have swapped a few characters around, but as
the production developed I became less aware of this initial thought.
I started my viewing noticing costume changes but again as the
time advanced this became less and less obvious.
I was watching the show thinking some of these
faces seem familiar to me and as they are all ex members of Young
Pleasance I have probably seen them perform in past Fringe productions.
On the strength of this well written and superbly performed
production wouldn’t be surprised to see them in professional
productions in the future.
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