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Iain Mackay as the deposed Duke, sorcerer Prospero The Tempest
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** THERE is probably a good reason why there
has never been a full length ballet of The Tempest – it is a near
impossible tale to tell in dance bereft of Shakespeare’s masterful
words. There is sibling rivalry, power struggles, a
sorcerer, a mischievous spirit, a nasty, deformed son of a witch,
storms, shipwrecks, romance between warring families (seem familiar?)
and finally redemption – with enough fairies and sprites to shake a
stick at. Birmingham Royal Ballet director David Bintley
has had Shakespeare’s last play in his mind since 1982 and finally, with
music he commissioned from Sally Beamish, it has arrived as the
finale of BRB’s Shakespeare season to mark the 400th anniversary of the
Bard’s death. Bintley has cleverly not attempted to tell the
complex tale in its entirety but instead opens after Prospero has been
stranded on an island with his daughter Miranda for 12 years, and is now controlling
everything and everyone by his well-honed magical powers. His ballet starts with the Tempest, conjured up by
Prospero, which drives a ship on to the island, a ship carrying Alonso,
King of Naples, his son Ferdinand, brother Sebastian and Antonio, Duke
of Milan, who had taken the title from his brother Prospero with the
connivance of the King. Iain Mackay is imperious, as always, as Prospero,
the deposed duke, in a role which sees him as a sort of pirate king in
Act 1 with a touch of the Drosselmeyers Mackay has developed that ability last seen with
Robert Parker to send that ripple of anticipation through the audience
whenever he appears. Jenna Roberts a Miranda is a delight, girlish, innocent and appearing so happy to be dancing with an equally cheerful Ferdinand, danced by Joseph Caley, all smiles and affection from the pair making it a joy to watch. Jenna Roberts as Miranda and Joseph Caley as Ferdinand Their pas de deux upon their first meeting is one
of the highlights. Not that it ends well, mind, with Prospero
debilitating the tale’s romantic lead with mixed bag of magic.
Dominic Antonucci, former Principal and Ballet
Master at BRB for the past seven years, showed he has still got it when
he donned his thigh high dancing boots to become the baddy Antonio. And baddy hardly describes the bloke. He not only
usurps his brother but persuades Sebastian danced by Lewis Turner, to do
in his brother, the King of Naples, danced by senior ballet baster,
Michael O’Hare, as he sleeps, and the pair are only stopped, swords
poised by Prospero’s sprite Ariel. It’s a nicely, quietly evil
performance. Antonio seems to be the sort of bloke who could stab you in
the back while shaking your hand. Potential as management or a banker. Ariel, looking much like Legolas from The Lord of
The Rings movie, is danced delightfully with the required sprite-like
lightness by Mathias Dingman, with more amusing mischief than the
malevolence seen in the play, and while we are on film characters we
mustn’t forget Caliban. Caliban is the aforementioned deformed son of an
evil witch, who ruled the island before Prospero arrived – not difficult
as he was the only human inhabitant, but hey, he was still the man – but
he is now Prospero’s slave and looks remarkably like Rambo. Danced by Tyrone Singleton he provides a splendid comic element with the king’s jester Trinculo, danced by James Barton, and his friend, the drunken butler, Stephano, danced by Valentin Olovyannikov, who had been shipwrecked with their masters. Their drunken and funny antics as they set off on
a plan to kill Prospero to free new best friend Caliban from his life of
servitude runs into trouble almost immediately as they are waylaid by
first booze then a dressing up box left purposely by Prospero, and then
after trying on the costumes, the plan is all but ended by Prospero’s
spirits appearing in the form of hunting hounds. There are some solo performances worth a mention
with Céline Gittens, Yvette Knight and Delia Mathews as goddesses Ceres,
goddess of harvest, Iris, air and Juno, marriage. Mathews, who arrives
on a flying peacock as Juno, also danced Prospera, Prospero’s wife while
Knight excelled with some prolonged, precision pointe work.
Lachlan Monaghan enjoyed himself as Neptune while
Tzu-Chao Chou seems happy a Pan, and why would the god of wine and
revelry not be happy? Bintley manages to incorporate all the major
characters of the play apart from Gonzalo, who only really has any
significance when Prospero and Miranda are set adrift at the start of
the play, a section which does not appear in the ballet, with the taking
of the title by Antonio only shown in a dream sequence with Miranda then
a three-year-old, using a very effective puppet. The ballet starts all at sea, with a golden ship
in a stormy sea with the sound of waves and wind and Ariel appearing as
the ship flounders and the ballet opens with a shipwreck, and to be
honest if you don’t know the play at all you will still be all at sea
two hours 15 minutes later. This is one where if you haven't a clue about The
Tempest, you either read a synopsis of the play before you set out, the
best option, or leave enough time to read the synopsis in the programme,
without it there is very little narrative to follow. You will see
characters but not connections and scenes will be dramatic, romantic,
pretty or funny, without the benefit of context. With some knowledge you can see how Bintley has
set the ballet entirely on the island, fitting elements of the play into
dreams to tell the story out of sequence, and with that knowledge the
whole thing becomes easier to follow. The Sally Beamish score might not have themes you
will hear in your mind for days to come, perhaps that comes with
familiarity, but it is pleasant, tuneful, and as one person said, it is
very listenable, and, as always, The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, under Koen
Kessels, give the music full justice, a class act in their own right. Rae Smith’s designs are simple but oh so
effective, relying on Bruno Poet’s sympathic lighting to provide
mood and atmosphere. There is one wonderful sequence when stage wide
billowing gassamer thin sheets overlap and swirl to create giant waves
breaking and rolling in a stormy ocean.
It is just fascinating to watch, a ballet on its own. The Tempest is a complex play with so many shades
and themes which rely on words and emphasis so for David Bintley to have
reduced it to a simple tale of love and redemption, with a few sprites
and a bit of magic thrown in, yet kept the essence of the play is a
remarkable job and it certainly deserves its place in BRB’s repertoire.
To 08-10-16 Roger Clarke 04-10-16 The Tempest, a
co-production with Houston Ballet Foundation in Texas heads off on tour
to Sadler's
Wells 020 7863 8000 13-15 October,
Sunderland Empire
0844 871 3022, 20-22 October, and
Theatre Royal, Plymouth,
01752 267222 27-29 October. It will then make its USA debut at Houston Ballet
on 25 may, 2017.
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from The Nutcracker in Act 2 as he conjures up a masque and introduces a
series of dances ending with a marriage of his daughter Miranda and the
now pardoned Ferdinand..