Another year, another Shakespeare production in the gardens. This annual tradition sits well with many and is one of the staple highlights in local theatre, heralding the close on the MADC season, and indeed one of the last ones before the summer break.

Director Stephen Oliver took on The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s less popular comedies, in spite of some very memorable characters and certainly some finely-tuned and oft-quoted verses.

It was a wise, if not quite original choice, to gender-swap Prospero for ‘Prospera’ – the Duchess of Milan, played by Kate de Cesare, whose performance I found rather uneven.

De Cesare’s interactions with her naïve but earnest daughter, Miranda (Michela Farrugia) and her spirit servant Ariel (Julia Camilleri) were heartfelt and nuanced, and this positive handling of the character was in stark contrast with the unstructured anger which she showed when discussing her predicament (shipwreck and isolation on a remote island) and her desire for revenge on her usurping brother Antonio (played by Massimo Portelli on the night I went). Unfortunately, the unchannelled anger did not reflect her conflicting desire for revenge and reconciliation and her need to make things right for her daughter; in these scenes she came across as rather shouty.

The Tempest has promise but needs to work on its delivery a little more intensively

The problem of projection affected everybody thanks to the very prominent firework and petard explosions which left the cast struggling to be heard at times.

Though this was not their fault, the production’s sound balance did not help matters and could have been toned down to allow for better clarity of diction.

The lip-synching to pre-recorded lyrics was not as smooth as it should have been transitionally, and I felt that live-sung verse would have worked more, especially since Camilleri is a trained singer.

Julia Camilleri as Ariel

I found Camilleri’s Miranda to be quite credible and made the most of her short lines, which she shared with Matthew Ben Attard’s Ferdinand – a part also much reduced, making one wonder how their love at first sight develops after the initial lightning bolt – with Attard’s role also being rather reduced.

This lack of character development was unfortunately upheld by Portelli’s Antonio, who was rather absent in his portrayal of an unscrupulous, scheming brother, and Brendon  Thearle’s Sebastian as his equally opportunistic co-villain.

Franco Sciberras’ kindly and well-meaning Gonzalo required quite a bit of work on his diction while Edward Thorpe’s Alonso was too distraught at the apparent loss of his son, Ferdinand to come across as authoritative.

The two comedic characters, Trinculo (James Camilleri) and Stephano (Victor Debono) were much better rounded and did their characters justice – in a side plot with Caliban (Gabriela Mendez) to murder Prospero and take over the island.

Mendez’s performance was consistent although I’m not sure I like the subtle stereotyping in Oliver’s direction here – a hunch and awkward limping gait and distorted voice did not do this tragicomic character justice, but Mendez made it work. 

What also worked very well was the set and lighting design, also under Oliver’s care – the fixed pool of water into which Ariel dove multiple times, made her more of a water sprite than one of the air, but Camilleri was smooth in her drenched performance and I rather found that she and Mendez were the ones with the best expressed characterisation.

The Tempest has promise but needs to work on its delivery a little more intensively. A pleasant enough piece to watch on any summer’s evening and certainly a tradition to uphold, but a tame and becalmed performance is on offer this year.

The Tempest is being staged at San Anton Gardens, Attard until Monday at  8.30pm. Tickets may be obtained at madc.com.mt .