Ruth Leon recommends…The Tempest – Royal Shakespeare Company
UncategorizedThe Tempest – Royal Shakespeare Company (Act One, Scene Two)
Click here There is much experimentation currently happening throughout the theatre world on the ways technology can be married to live performance. Some new ways of seeing are at such an early stage that they are not yet ready for public display. Some require specialised equipment to be able to see it which excludes universal use. Some Virtual Reality can be used with very small groups or just in workshops. All are very expensive. But some experiments are already being used by mainstream theatres to wonderful effect.
Gregory Doran’s 2017 production of The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company had an Ariel who manifested apparently in thin air before appearing in corporeal form on-stage a little later. This is a technique known as ‘motion capture technology’ but I call it magic. Here is Act 1 Scene Two of that production. Prospero is, of course, Simon Russell Beale. The voice behind the Ariel’s apparition is actor Mark Quartley. I believe we will be seeing much more of this fascinating technique in the theatre.
I saw this production at the Barbican, wonderful cast and set. I don’t think the motion capture quite worked but was interesting and will surely improve.