THE TEMPEST. Sheffield Crucible. Plymouth Theatre Royal on tour.

Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest, is his farewell to theatre and a richly symbolic piece. On an enchanted island Prospero, an exiled autocratic magician, learns about humanity by observing his daughter Miranda’s love for Ferdinand. In the end, he abandons his “rough magic”, becoming a kindly ruler.

Michael Grandage, who directs the Sheffield Crucible production, says: “The play asks, how easy is it to forgive? And if it isn’t, how important is it to make the effort to forgive?” Prospero (played by Derek Jacobi) has been the victim of a “monstrous injustice”, so what does he do when he has the chance to exact revenge? There are parallels with the experiences of the families of terrorist victims.

“Also,” says Grandage, “Prospero’s dilemma is that, although he’s set up Miranda’s marriage, he finds it hard to give her away.” The father-daughter relationship is ‘very strong’, so a parental dilemma is at the emotional heart of the play.

In a post-show discussion about his production of As You Like It, Grandage asked the audience if it was the first time they had seen the play, “and about 80 per cent said ‘yes’, so we have a responsibility to make sure we tell the story clearly”.

For example, he emphasises that “the purpose of the masque, which Prospero arranges for the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand, must be made clear.”

Too often in the theatre the spectacle of the masque’s goddesses “hijacks the moment”, leaving audiences puzzled.

Patrick Mason, who directs the Plymouth Theatre Royal touring production, says, “Prospero’s project is to save Miranda from the mistakes of his generation and this leads to questions about human nature. Where do good and evil come from and what is transcendent?”

Mason’s production mixes references to the Elizabethan imagination with hints of the conspiratorial politics of 1930s fascist Italy. But “despite all the philosophy in the play”, he stresses the importance of the youthfulness of Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel and Caliban - “an adolescent kid who’s growing up the wrong way”.

At the end Prospero (played by Richard Briers), “realises that you can’t change people against their wishes”. His journey is from a “very esoteric world to living among men, from magic to humanity”.

The Tempest runs until October 19

Tickets tel: 0114 249 6000

Young people’s performance, September 30.

Plymouth Theatre Royal tours until November 23

Tickets tel: 020 7263 9867

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