| |
The Tempest
“Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground…”
Gonzalo, I, i
On June 2, 1609, the flagship of the Virginia Company, Sea Venture, led an eight- ship fleet destined for Jamestown with over 500 people aboard. But less than a month at sea the fleet was hit by a hurricane and the ships became separated. Sea Venture battled the storm for three days, but the ship was so new her timbers had not yet settled and the caulking between them came undone, causing substantial leaks. The vessel's guns and many of its material possessions were thrown overboard, but the situation deteriorated nonetheless. The water in the hold had risen to nine feet by the morning of July 28 when Admiral Sir George Somers spied land. With the passengers and crew in a state of exhaustion, Somers deliberately drove the ship onto the reefs of Bermuda, allowing 150 people and one dog to land safely ashore.
An account of this nautical disaster was written in 1610 by survivor William Strachey and became well known throughout London that same year. Scholars widely believe that Shakespeare himself read Strachey's firsthand report and used it as inspiration for The Tempest, which debuted in 1611. This excerpt from Strachey's writing describes the storm and calls to mind the first scene in The Tempest:
| |
The Sea swelled above the clouds, and gave battle unto heaven. It could not be said to rain; the waters like whole rivers did flood the air. …Howbeit this was not all; it pleased God to bring a greater affliction yet upon us; for in the beginning of the storm we had received likewise a mighty leak. And the ship in every joint almost, having spewed out her oakum, before we were aware was grown five foot suddenly deep with water above her ballast, and we almost drowned within, whiles we sat looking when to perish from above. |
Strachey continues with the following description of that fateful night, describing an image that may have supplied the inspiration for Shakespeare's magical fairy Ariel:
| |
…and on the Thursday night Sir George Summers being upon the watch, had an apparition of a little round light, like a faint star, trembling, and streaming along with a sparkling blaze, half the height upon the mainmast, and shooting sometimes from shroud to shroud, tempting to settle as it were upon any of the four shrouds; …The superstitious seamen make many constructions of this Sea-fire, which nevertheless is usual in storms: the same which the Grecians were wont in the Mediterranean to call Castor and Pollux, of which, if one only appeared without the other, they took it for an evil sign of great tempest. |
Strachey's initial report of the island is equally dramatic:
| |
We found it to be the dangerous and dreaded island, or rather islands, of the Bermuda. And that the rather, because they be so terrible to all that ever touched on them, and such tempests, thunders and other fearful objects are seen and heard about them that they be called commonly, the devils islands, and are feared and voided of all sea travelers alive, above any other place in this world. |
The Sea Venture survivors spent nine months on their feared Bermuda isle, and perhaps most Shakespearean of all is Strachey's telling of the treasonous plot several conspirators devised to overthrow Admiral Somers. In many ways this account mirrors the scene in Act II of The Tempest where Antonio and Sebastian attempt to assassinate King Alonso. Indeed, at the conclusion of Shakespeare's failed assassination scene, Gonzalo states, “‘Tis best we stand upon our guard, / Or that we quit this place. Let's draw our weapons.” Compare this to what Strachey originally related:
| |
Every man from thenceforth was commanded to wear his weapon…and every man advised to stand upon his guard, his own life not being in safety, whilst his next neighbor was not to be trusted.
Inasmuch as the adventurous spirit of far off island escapades was in the air when Shakespeare crafted his farewell play, this romanticized theme has not grown obsolescent over time. Since its debut, the influence of The Tempest can be seen across many genres and generations. Mozart was considering composing an operatic version of The Tempest the year of his death. Tchaikovsky wrote a fantasy overture inspired by the play. The 1950s gave us the Tempest -inspired “Forbidden Planet,” and in a more contemporary vein, the television programs “Survivor” and “Lost” are clearly indebted to the influence of Shakespeare's masterpiece.
This production of The Tempest marks the GLTF directing debut of Associate Artistic Director Andrew May, and we are thrilled to have his artistic hand guiding the ship towards smooth sailing. We hope that the magical island essence of The Tempest proves to be as inspiring and entertaining to audiences today as it was to the Bard when he first encountered it nearly four hundred years ago. |
Inasmuch as the adventurous spirit of far off island escapades was in the air when Shakespeare crafted his farewell play, this romanticized theme has not grown obsolescent over time. Since its debut, the influence of The Tempest can be seen across many genres and generations. Mozart was considering composing an operatic version of The Tempest the year of his death. Tchaikovsky wrote a fantasy overture inspired by the play. The 1950s gave us the Tempest -inspired “Forbidden Planet,” and in a more contemporary vein, the television programs “Survivor” and “Lost” are clearly indebted to the influence of Shakespeare's masterpiece.
This production of The Tempest marks the GLTF directing debut of Associate Artistic Director Andrew May, and we are thrilled to have his artistic hand guiding the ship towards smooth sailing. We hope that the magical island essence of The Tempest proves to be as inspiring and entertaining to audiences today as it was to the Bard when he first encountered it nearly four hundred years ago.
Daniel Hahn is Great Lakes Theater Festival’s Director of Education and has been with the Festival since 1995 when he served as an actor-teacher. Mr. Hahn holds an M.A. in theater from The University of Akron.
|
