The guiding idea... seems to be to stress the theatrical, or meta-theatrical, aspects of the play… When Prospero presents his masque he conjures it out of a pop-up book, and it takes place in a giant version of a toy theatre.
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- John Gross, Sunday Telegraph
- Date
- 1993
- Copyright
- ©
A triumph of spectacle... scenery and costumes of uncommon splendour... low pinnacles of rock rising abruptly from a level mist-swept plain... the masque, with ballet movements and Juno ascending on a cloud, eclipses all that has gone before it.
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- Drama critic, The Scotsman
- Date
- 1951
- Copyright
- ©
The storm is all massive undulations of aquamarine material; the island is a pebbled circle surrounded by a calm sea and sky… the cloud-decked cyclorama; the huge horned shell from which Prospero prises black Caliban like a hermit crab...
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times
- Date
- 1998
- Copyright
- ©
The great Stratford stage and its equipment are used to their uttermost capacity; caves change their shape and size before our very eyes, the trap door sucks down Prospero’s victims… His shipwreck is a matter of swinging ropes and swaying lanterns...
- Act and Scene
- Credit
- WT, Nottingham Guardian
- Date
- 1957
- Copyright
- ©
Download: transcript [PDF]
