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I admit to feeling some trepidation when I discovered that QTC's
latest dabble in the Shakespearean canon was to be a post-colonial interpretation of The Tempest. Having been originally excited by
their brilliant advertising campaign, this discovery was somewhat of a disappointment as I am not a big fan of po-co
interpretations of Shakespeare. Yet I was pleasantly surprised and must conclude that in the current political
climate it was definitely a good move. Overall, the idea of transplanting the action from the "somewhere in the
Mediterranean" to pre-1778 Australia worked quite well. Prospero (a charismatic John Stanton), the usurped Duke of
Milan, becomes Prospero, usurper of indigenous sovereignty on the Isle. Built upon the colonial expansionist myth
that the newly discovered Great South Land could legitimately be regarded as Terra Nullius (land owned by no-one)
and therefore open to whoever could claim it (provided they were white), this production shows a morally ambiguous
Prospero using his superior strength to subdue the indigenous Caliban (Glenn Shea), deprive him of his land, and
force him to adopt his new master's way of life. Sound familiar?
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Nor was Caliban the only one represented as an indigenous inhabitant of the Isle. Arial (Margaret Harvey) and the
other island spirits were also portrayed as indigenous spirits who had more affinity with Caliban than with any
other human. This use of indigenous actors was one of the production's major strengths and it succeeded in illustrating
clearly that the "monster" Caliban has a spiritual connection to island that none of the other non-indigenous
inhabitants or visitors can recognise or understand -- none, that is, except Prospero, who uses it to his own advantage.
Even Miranda (Julie Eckersley), who, though not born on the island, has spent most of her life there, cannot perceive
the world around her as Caliban does. Though a "native", she has a European mind, trained only by her father in the
ways of the "civilised" world.
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Strong performances were turned in by all of the four major characters. John Stanton portrayed a powerful and
often frightening Prospero, whose desire at the end to seek reconciliation not only with his many enemies but with
Caliban as well is all the more highlighted by his former cruelty. In Australia, we have a Prime Minister that
just cannot bring himself to say that special word, and it was surprisingly cathartic to see Prospero do so in this
context. Julie Eckersley (Miranda), as usual, was brilliant. Glenn Shea's Caliban and Margaret Harvey's Arial were
both good performances of dignity under oppression, and Eugene Gilfedder's dangerous Antonio had me wondering, for
the first time ever, whether or not Prospero would actually succeed in making it back home at all, an interesting
touch in a play about forgiveness.
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In fact I enjoyed this performance so much that it is almost a shame that I have to criticise it for sloppiness. In a
production that was designed to explore and debunk long-standing and stubborn cultural myths, it is a pity that they
blindly set about to perpetuate other myths which, if not as culturally significant, are at least as old as those
they set out to subvert in their production. "The Tempest
is Shakespeare's last play" the advertising postcard says, a message that is repeated in the opening sentence of
QTC's educational Web page attached to this performance.
The Tempest "is often seen as Shakespeare's final mischievous pronouncement on the world at large",
"Shakespeare's final and greatest play." Quotes like this appear again and again throughout the programme, Website, and the advertising. The image that Prospero is some form
of autobiographical representation of Shakespeare is an idea that was made popular during the Romantic period (which incidentally corresponds
quite nicely with the European settlement of Australia. Wordsworth was born in 1770). As masters of autobiographical
poetry, the Romantics could not conceive that Shakespeare, their great precursor, could be anything other than one
of them. Prospero's renunciation speech in act 5, scene 1 ("Ye
elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes ...") has long been read as Shakespeare's last hurrah, his
announcement of retirement from the busy world of the London theatre to a final few quite years in Stratford.
Unfortunately it is all bunk. As delightful as it would be to have such concrete proof of Shakespeare's sentiments,
The Tempest was not his last play, and this view is nothing more than a powerful western literary myth.
After The Tempest (first performed on 1 November 1611) Shakespeare is known to have worked on three other
plays, Henry VIII (1613), The Two Noble
Kinsmen (1613), and Cardino (1613, now lost) with his fellow playwright and "King's Man" John Fletcher.
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Of course, any great figure is bound to be the subject of the occasional myth, and Shakespeare is no exception. To
the Romantics, Jacobean England was a culture as remote from them as they are from us, so they invented myths about
Shakespeare to fit in with their developing notions of what creative genius should be like. At the same time their
society was inventing myths about the "black-man" in the colonies, myths that allowed them to impose their world
views on cultures that they didn't understand. I enjoyed QTC's production of The Tempest. It was
contemporary, political, well acted and produced, I am only disappointed that they didn't take the time to get all
their facts right.
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Details
The Tempest, by William Shakespeare.
QTC, Optus Playhouse, Brisbane, 24 Sep. - 9 Oct.
Director: Simon Phillips.
Associate Director: Wesley Enoch.
Designer: Michael Scott-Mitchell.
Cast: Aaron Catalan, Simon Chan, Robert Coleby, Julie Eckersley, Alan Edwards, Jennifer Flowers, Iain Gardiner,
Eugene Gilfedder, Steven Grives, Margaret Harvey, Enrico Mammarella, Glenn Shea, John Stanton,
with the Jagera Jarjum Aboriginal Dance Troupe.
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Citation reference for this article
MLA style:
Drew Whitehead. "Transplanting Prospero: QTC's 'The Tempest'" M/C Reviews 11 Oct. 1999.
[your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/tempest.html>.
Chicago style:
Drew Whitehead, "Transplanting Prospero: QTC's 'The Tempest'," M/C Reviews 11 Oct. 1999,
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/tempest.html> ([your date of access]).
APA style:
Drew Whitehead. (1999) Transplanting Prospero: QTC's 'The tempest'. M/C Reviews 11 Oct. 1999.
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/events/tempest.html> ([your date of access]).
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![[image]](http://qtc.thehub.com.au/qtcweb99/images/prdtemp21.jpg)