With the run of MADC’s The Tempest now well under way following last night’s rip-roaring opening at San Anton Gardens, Laura Bonnici chats with the play’s director Stephen Oliver
Stephen Oliver is used to managing water on stage. Having worked professionally as an actor and award-winning director for more than 30 years in the UK, the US and Europe, the element seems to crop up often on his extensive performance CV, such as in The Memory of Water or while directing the critically-acclaimed Metamorphosis.
Now he has taken his experience of working with a (very) wet stage to a whole new level, directing MADC’s The Tempest at San Anton Gardens – which features a water pool in the set.
“This is not my first time working with water in Malta, after directing Metamorphosis at Fort St Elmo for the Malta International Arts Festival a couple of years ago,” explains Oliver. “Since all the cast were in and out of water in that, I took them to a swimming pool to rehearse shortly before moving into Fort St Elmo. Julia Camilleri, who plays Ariel, spends her entire time in and out of water in The Tempest, but fortunately she was in Metamorphosis too, so she understands the effect I need.”
The unusual decision to include a water pool in the set is not, however, the limit of Oliver’s innovation in his staging of Shakespeare’s last play. Inspired by the real-life history of female struggle and the Bard’s famous observation in the play that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, Oliver also opted to change the gender of the traditionally-male lead role of Prospero – now, Prospera.
“Women have been punished for being powerful for many centuries, and I thought that was the remarkable thing about changing Prospero into Prospera: you can reference that struggle. I love the fact that in making Prospero a woman we could present that history and those issues. I think women can be pretty brutal too, particularly in terms of revenge – and it’s been interesting to see how well the text fits when spoken by a female.”
Having made the decision to make Prospera female, Oliver also gender-swapped other characters throughout the classic tale of power struggles, magic and love on a remote island, making all the play’s island inhabitants female, such as Miranda, Ariel and Caliban, while the shipwrecked characters are all male.
Shakespeare himself would have loved it
Oliver’s fascination with the character of Prospero/a even extends to the idea that Shakespeare may have been channelling himself into the role.
“As The Tempest is probably the last play that Shakespeare wrote unaided, it is tempting to see Prospera, in her command of the action onstage, as a representation of Shakespeare,” he elaborates.
“The impressively orchestrated structure and originality of the play also suggests that Shakespeare may have intended it as a sort of culmination of his art. Academics believe the character is probably related to how Shakespeare was feeling at the time – a desire to stop writing and return home to Stratford-Upon-Avon to live out his final years. This interpretation has been especially popular because of the final speech made by Prospera, which sounds rather like a formal farewell to the theatre.”
Continuing his theme of blending the old and the new, Oliver has also chosen to celebrate the Elizabethan period in the play’s costumes and setting, but with a contemporary twist reminiscent of the New Romantic period and the music of the 1980s. Likewise, he has elected to create a cast of both new and established performers, including Kate De Cesare as Prospera, Philip Leone-Ganado as Antonio, James Camilleri and Victor Debono as Trinculo and Stephano, Julia Camilleri as Ariel, Gabriela Mendez as Caliban, Michela Farrugia as Miranda, Matthew Ben Attard as Ferdinand and Edward Thorpe as Alonso.
“Casting is always the most enjoyable part of the journey. I was hugely flattered by the amount of people who wanted to be in The Tempest,” shares Oliver. “We have a fusion of some of Malta’s most experienced actors working with some new faces – although many of these new faces already have impressive CVs to their names. Cast these alongside Shakespeare heavyweights like Philip Leone Ganado and Victor Debono and you get a refreshing approach.”
With so many fresh and innovative ideas being poured into The Tempest, it’s easy to see why MADC – Malta’s longest-established theatre company – was keen for Oliver to direct this latest instalment of its Shakespeare in the Gardens tradition. Having staged its now-famous Shakespeare play outdoors at San Anton Gardens annually for more than 80 years, MADC has earned a reputation for offering new interpretations of the Bard’s classic tales that has secured the tradition in the hearts of audiences across Malta.
“After appearing in As You Like It last summer at San Anton, I realised what a great tradition the annual Shakespeare has become,” concludes Oliver. “To sit, watch and listen to the Bard’s great works in such a beautifully idyllic setting – well, I am sure Shakespeare himself would have loved it. Last night’s audience certainly did!”
MADC’s The Tempest by William Shakespeare continues tonight at San Anton Gardens, Attard, and on July 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, with all shows starting at 8.30pm. This production is suitable for general audiences and children aged six and over. Tickets and more information are available at www.madc.com.mt.