There are two ways to enjoy our magnificent audio production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Come to an exclusive listening event:
Buy a Ticket
OR listen to it over four weeks on the radio!
The Tempest will be broadcast on 94.9MAINfm our fantastic Castlemaine station!
Listen to Around the Wireless, Wednesdays at 1pm and repeated on Dark Moments at 10pm ( you can stream it live here). Broadcast Dates:
Episode One: 22 September & 25 September
Episode Two: 29 September & 2 October
Episode Three: 6 October & 9 October
Episode Four: 13 October & 16 October
(Love hearing our production on the radio? Become a member of CTC or throw a coin in our hat – help us keep making innovative theatre in Castlemaine!)
Support Us
If you can’t catch the broadcast or you missed the show on radio, come along to our exclusive listening event on Saturday 16 October and Sunday 17 October at Goods Shed Arts (21 Kennedy Street, Castlemaine).
UPDATE! The Saturday 16 event has now Sold Out! There is now limited seating available for Sunday 17 October.
Meet the cast, enjoy a drink while you lie back and let the luxurious sounds of Prospera’s magical island wash over you. This fundraiser will include an extended 90 min interval for a meal break; bring a picnic, get a drink at the bar (no BYO alcohol, please), and meet the cast of the production. Each ticket includes 2 entries to a raffle, to be drawn on the night.
Buy a Ticket
Is blood thicker than water? Two charismatic sisters, one mad (perhaps…), the other bad (perhaps…) embark on contrasting paths to power; drawn into a festering conflict, they take a winding and magical route to redemption. David Thrussell’s original score paints an expansive, dangerous and intoxicating landscape encompassing driving electronic beats and magisterial, mystical themes.
Cast:
David Farrington (Alonso, King of Naples); Toby Heydon (Sebastian, his brother); Lisa Martin (Prospera, the rightful Duke of Milan); Sally Guildford (Antonia, her sister, the usurping Duke of Milan): Edwin Lavery (Ferdinand, son of the King of Naples): David Watson (Gonzalo, an honest old councillor); Stephen McMahon (Adrian, a lord and a naturalist); John Cosgriff (Caliban, a native of the island, enslaved by Prospera); Tim Ratcliffe (Trinculo, a jester); Jonathan Conquest (Stephano, a drunken butler); Aston Elliot (Master Boatswain); Orvokki Britton (Miranda, daughter of Prospera); Hannah Jeffcoat and John Willis (Ariel, an airy spirit); Elizabeth Scanlon (Iris, a Goddess)
Our Changes:
In production since April, this innovative project was inspired by a New York theatre company who created an episodic podcast version of Richard II. One of Shakespeare’s last works, The Tempest was first performed in 1611. It takes place on an enchanted island where a banished duke plots to get revenge on his usurping brother. In our version we have adapted the original script altering the gender of the main character, who now becomes Prospera, with her sister Antonia. This shifts the dynamic of the work, and enhances the subtlety of the characterisations. The tension between Miranda, the adolescent daughter of Prospera, a menopausal mother is palpable.
Original Plot:
The themes of the plot revolve around a major act of betrayal, ill treatment, the development of magic arts and a plot of revenge.
Twelve years ago, Prospero was Duke of Milan. Being of a bookish disposition, he withdrew more and more into his studies, leaving the management of his state to his brother Antonio. Eventually, with the help of Alonso, King of Naples, and the King’s brother Sebastian – inveterate enemies of Prospero – Antonio usurped the dukedom for himself. Prospero and his baby daughter Miranda were put to sea in a rotten boat and eventually landed on a distant island once ruled by the witch Sycorax but now inhabited only by her son, Caliban, and Ariel, a spirit.
Since then Prospero has ruled the island and its two inhabitants by the use of magic arts derived from his studies. His daughter Miranda has grown up seeing no other human being.
Prospero divines that fortune has brought his enemies close to the island and he sees an opportunity to work his revenge. He uses his powers to raise a storm which shipwrecks them. When Miranda questions this, he tells her the story of their arrival on the island and assures her that no real harm will come to the survivors.
The shipwrecked travellers are separated. At Prospero’s bidding, the invisible Ariel directs their wanderings. He leads Ferdinand, the King’s son, to Prospero’s cell, where he and Miranda fall instantly in love. Prospero sets heavy tasks to test Ferdinand.
The King of Naples searches for his son, although fearing him to be drowned. Sebastian, the king’s brother, plots to kill him and seize the crown. The drunken butler, Stephano, and the jester, Trinculo, encounter Caliban and are persuaded by him to kill Prospero so that they can rule the island. However, Ariel manages to make mischief between them and they are soon bickering amongst themselves.
Satisfied that Ferdinand has met all his challenges, Prospero presents the young couple with a betrothal masque celebrating chastity and the blessings of marriage. He is distracted from this, however, when he remembers Caliban’s plot.
As Prospero’s plan draws to its climax, he vows that upon its completion he will abandon his magic arts. Ariel brings Alonso and his followers to the cell, and Prospero, in his own persona as Duke of Milan, confronts his enemies and forgives them. In the betrothal of Ferdinand and Miranda, the rift between Naples and Milan is healed.
