A tale that echoes life itself

One of the Bard’s most loved plays will be staged at an iconic location this summer to mark 60 years of Shakespeare at Curium

As the sky shades from gold to indigo, and the setting sun sinks seaward, the oldest player on the island will step out onto the stage… “Who better to open our 60^th play than 90-year-old Colin Garland, one of the most distinguished members of the Performing Arts for Cyprus Charities?” asks Director Sharon Chorbadjain. “Especially given that this year’s Shakespeare at Curium is a tale that echoes life itself…”

The Tempest is often typed as a comedy, a light-hearted romp through a strange isle, so ‘full of noises’. But it’s actually, says Sharon, a reflection of life itself, with a plot that takes in every aspect of the human experience: innocence and romance, love and loss, drama and decision-making, revenge and reconciliation.

“It’s life rolled into one, with something for everyone,” she reveals. “A dramatic tale that, nevertheless, ends well. It’s a performance by the community for the community of a play that has, despite its age, remained exceedingly relevant…”

This isn’t the first time the ancient amphitheatre of Curium (now approaching 2,000 years of age) has seen The Tempest. “When you reach the 60^th annual performance of an institution that began in 1962,” says Sharon, “you’re bound to have recycled a great many of Shakespeare’s plays!”

Each appears roughly every 20 years, and with the troubling times of late, first-time PACC director (and long-time thespian) Sharon felt it was time for a spot of The Tempest. “Deep and dramatic but nevertheless uplifting,” she explains, “it’s a play that challenges perceptions and asks us to consider what we’re making of our lives…”

Taking place on an unnamed isle, the plot centres on Prospero the magician, once the Duke of Milan. Twelve years previously, our protagonist plus daughter were cast out to sea by his brother Antonio; there to die. But, against all expectation, the duo survived, finding their way to a magical island inhabited only by a witch’s son and a spirit of the air. So when a tempestuous storm shipwrecks the wicked brother and party on Prospero’s island domain, retribution is nigh…

“Obviously Prospero is hell-bent on revenge,” explains Sharon. “Here are his brother and archenemy, lost and scared, on the isle that Prospero rules. The situation couldn’t be more perfect for the magician, who has dreamed of retribution for years…”

This being Shakespeare there are, of course, a great many subplots. There’s the isle’s original denizen, Caliban, who, with the more foolish of the shipwrecked party, plots Prospero’s death. There’s another intrigue in which various characters scheme to do away with King Alonso of Naples. And Ferdinand, a royal prince, who falls madly in love with Prospero’s daughter.

“But it’s Prospero who’s the driving force,” says Sharon. “The title may reference the opening storm. But on a deeper level, it also echoes the magician’s internal tumult: the tempest of the mind. Life is messy, the play seems to say. But it’s how we choose to approach this chaos that makes us who we really are. And for Prospero, that means making a hard choice between vengeance and forgiveness…”

If you haven’t ever read the play (or seen it performed), you’re in for a treat. Often lauded as among the Bard’s most popular works, The Tempest is the most-performed play in the history of the BBC. It was also voted into the top 10 Shakespearian works by readers of Time Magazine. And shakespeare.online.com (repository of all things Bard) suggests The Tempest is number four on the list of Shakespeare’s most-loved plays!

Its popularity, Sharon suggests, may well be due in part to a frequent Shakespearian device that, in The Tempest works to great effect. “Shakespeare often takes his characters out of society and into nature, and then sends them back to their former lives with lessons learned. It’s a device employed to great effect in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night. But in The Tempest,” she adds, “it’s particularly masterful, and we’ve taken great pains to ensure our audience appreciates every facet of this richly entertaining story.

“Shakespearian language can often be challenging,” she acknowledges. “Some of the audience will always attend the annual Shakespeare at Curium for its stunning setting: for the singular experience of seeing Shakespeare performed under the stars in an ancient amphitheatre. But this year, we’ve worked extremely hard to ensure that everyone is able to understand exactly what’s happening. When the language isn’t familiar, it’s the job of the director to ensure the backstory to each relationship, the characters themselves, and the words they use are clear to our viewers.”

This doesn’t mean, of course, that Shakespeare’s original words have been lost. The beauty of the language (The Tempest is believed to be responsible for such idioms as ‘into thin air’, ‘in a pickle’ and the iconic ‘brave new world’) remain in all their glory. Rather, this iteration will be presented in such a way, hopes Sharon, that every viewer – from youngest to oldest – will be able to appreciate every character’s trials and joys…

“Prospero, like us, is on a journey,” she says. “We all have our islands we need to escape; we all have perceptions that can be challenged. And while The Tempest gives us no definitive answers, perhaps what it’s really asking us – from oldest to youngest – is to recognise our monsters, rethink what drives us, and reconsider our priorities. Life, it seems to say, is short: ‘We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep,’ says Prospero. And The Tempest takes a light-hearted look at what really matters in life.”

The Tempest

Staged by the Shakespeare at Curium takes place on June 23, 24, and 25, starting promptly at 8pm. Tickets cost €20 (adults) €10 (under 13s) and are available from soldout tickets and Stefanis