‘Why are they wearing business suits?’ whispered my young companion in the opening scenes of the Unicorn Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She was perfectly at ease with my reply: ‘It’s the costume.’ Our young people have some quite specific expectations of the theatre so how lucky we all are to have such inventive productions that challenge them and fire their imaginations. This production of The Tempest displayed the incredible inventiveness one has grown to know and love from the Unicorn.
It was exceptionally physical (the portrayal of the listing of the ship was particularly effective), with dance, plenty of leaping about (from the awesomely agile John Cockerill) and the use of the whole theatre, with just the right balance of flashes and bangs to carry us through Shakespeare’s wonderfully mischievous comedy. Six actors played all eleven parts beautifully, of course. But it was Stephano (Julie Hewitt), Trinculo (Ery Nzaramba) and Caliban (Liam Lane) who stole the show prompting roars and cackles from the audience. This is a tight company, who looked like they were having a ball. The feeling was definitely mutual.
The Tempest continues until June 19th. The Garbage King runs from September 25th.
Review by
Lesley Finlay