Catching the Light by Mark Leipacher

Author:Mark Leipacher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oberon Books Ltd.

PROSPERO

How now? Moody? What is’t thou canst demand?

ARIEL

My liberty.

(The Tempest, I.ii)

On the contrary, Ariel’s potential capacity for such human emotions as pity and compassion are hinted at in Simon’s delivery of Ariel’s song, “Full fathom five”, at the end of the scene. His tenor voice, trained through his time as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral and in his early years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, was another asset put to good use following the unconventional casting decision. It was an asset that Deborah Warner had mentioned to Sam when he was rethinking Simon’s role.

There was one idea that would have seen Ariel performing in a very different fashion. During Act IV, Scene 1, the young lovers Miranda and Ferdinand are entertained by a masque of three goddesses – Iris, Ceres and Juno – which Ariel initiates following Prospero’s instructions. Sam was alive to the potential editorial possibility that Ariel could play one of the goddesses. This was before the casting took place and Simon remains relieved that Sam abandoned the idea. “I think me in drag would be... not very magical.”

Ariel was still required to initiate the masque. In this production, Sam was aware of the masque’s inherent theatricality – a play within a play – and staged the masque in a box theatre which descended from the rig to the stage when Ariel raised his hands. “There was one very funny occasion when I lifted my hand during one performance... and nothing happened. When something goes wrong on stage I have a very acute sense of embarrassment. I try to have as few props as possible and when something goes wrong with a prop I hate it, and Sam can always see it from a mile off. My embarrassment in this instance was so acute that I just turned around – very slowly – and walked off the stage, leaving [Prospero, Miranda and Ferdinand] to think, ‘what the hell is he doing?’”

It remains rare for Sam and Simon to have much contact about productions between the casting offer and the first day of rehearsals, but from time to time Sam will phone Simon with a small piece of information, such as a brief casting update. During pre-production on The Tempest he did call to gleefully announce “I’ve given you the best exit.”

Right at the end of Act V, Scene 1, just before the play’s epilogue, Prospero finally fulfils his promise to release his faithful servant. In the production, Ariel slowly glided across the stage in his elastic way of walking and opened a door in the back of the stage that had hitherto been concealed, revealing a new space of brilliant white light. Ariel stood in silhouette for a brief moment and then disappeared into this new plane of existence and to freedom.

Prior to this exit, there was a theatrical gesture that caused much controversy. Through the process of rehearsals, Ariel had become a very superior creature who performed his tasks to perfection but had

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.