The Tempest – Immersion at Norton Priory & Gardens, Runcorn
Often played as tragedy with revenge at its heart, director James Tobias has opted to play this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest more for laughs which means that this tale of forgiveness, generosity, and enlightenment has more of a pantomime feel to it than the supernatural and mysterious.
Opening to the travails of a ship at sea, we meet Prospero (Andrew Pearson-Wright) and his daughter Miranda (Katie Hamilton), and learn how 12 years ago his brother, with assistance from Naples, had usurped him as Duke of Milan. Put to sea in a rotten boat, they washed up on a distant island inhabited only by the son of a witch, Caliban (Lee Birnie), and a spirit, Ariel (Carlotte Balls). Since then, Prospero has ruled the island and its two inhabitants using magic arts and having di...