Yesterday we performed the Tempest for Ian, a man who provided our director with a certain amount of inspiration for the direction of the play in the early stages of our work. He pointed out to us that the play needs to centre around magic - the audience need to be immersed in the magic of the island, and the characters need to be under a certain amount of enchantment to make the story work. This provoked a discussion regarding the opening of our play - we had originally started with an upbeat song about being lost, but this now seemed to jarr with the overall context of the play. We also discussed the world of white magic, and the power Prospero emulates by being able to control the elements and heavenly bodies (such as Ariel).
What came out of this was the decision to completely change our opening unit, cutting our lost song and changing it for a mroe magical, dark and haunting melody. It still resonates loss and the unknown, but fits much more smoothly with the rest of our storytelling. Hopefully this will help the audience to believe in the magic from the outset...
Our dramaturg, Suze, has also researched white magic, and the power that Renaissance magicians held. The question regarding Prospero is thus: how far is his magic good? Although he practices white magic, his manipulation of the spirit world and nature has certain dark undertones. Perhaps because he believes what he does is for a selfish greater good, he does not see his actions as dangerous. This puts a really interesting take on our portrayal of Prospero, making us question where he has harnessed these powers from, and just how far he would be willing to go to control destiny.
We'd llike to thank Ian for his invaluable input! We've got a jam-packed day today making sure we can immerse our tale in magic and intrigue, layering white magic with a hint of darkness...
Tomorrow is our last rehearsal before Edinburgh, where our magical adventure begins!
HP x
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