Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s production of The Tempest
YORK company Black Sheep Theatre are promising to bring magic, music and mayhem to The Tempest from tonight at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
William Shakespeare’s timeless tale of power, love and redemption is directed by company founder and composer Matthew Peter Clare in an innovative adaptation that “blends traditional Shakespearean drama with a dynamic theatrical approach”. “The First Encounters production that the RSC brought to York Theatre Royal in February was for children; ours is definitely not!” he says.
Known for bold and impactful storytelling in their musical theatre shows, Black Sheep are applying an exciting new vision to Shakespeare’s melting pot of mistaken identity, magic, intrigue, murderous schemes, comedy and romance.
“The Tempest is famously Shakespeare’s last play, focusing on family and love, subjugation and bloody plots, reconciliation and forgiveness, euphoria and despair,” says Matthew.
“It’s a play that has been performed numerous times in as many ways. You can do anything with it, and we have! With Black Sheep’s version, we aim to marry a more Brechtian theatre style for some of our more absurd characters with a grounded, naturalistic approach for the more plot-driven characters.
Matthew continues: “It’s an incredibly musical play, so we’ve utilised my musical background, alongside the incredible talent of Gregory Harper, to create a musical score for a live eight-piece band, featuring two violins, viola, cello, contrabass, guitar, harp and percussion, that will accompany the show and highlight the characters and their choices throughout.
“This will perfectly complement the singing of the island spirits, as well as our featured leading singers, such as Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.”
Both are well-known figures in York’s theatre and music scene, with Gemma-Louise being the lead singer in fellow cast member Mickey Moran’s band KissKissKill and Josh regularly performing with Inspired By Theatre, starring in Green Day’s American Idiot last year and now rehearsing for Rent.
“Greg and I have created the score, working on it since December 26 and finishing it on Tuesday, for example deciding what parts of Ariel’s speeches we would turn into songs, such as Full Fathom Five, and what we needed to keep as speech, finding the happy medium for that and using underscore too,” says Matthew.
“We’re delighted to have Gemma, who used to do Shakespeare plays when she was younger and is now working with me for the first time.”
The band will be putting in a double shift, says Matthew, by not only supporting the actors with their playing but also “playing the character of the band”.
Look out too for the play within the play. “We always wanted to do that as a musical number,” says Matthew.
As for magic and mayhem, as embodied by the actions of Simmonds’s Prospero, “He’s really interesting among Shakespeare characters as the magic he uses is not intrinsically evil and there’s ultimately no cost to that magic, unlike in Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth goes mad and Macbeth dies,” says Matthew.
“But Prospero’s magic is cruel, how he treats Caliban and Ariel, his slaves. There is a lot of torture, with his power to control and subjugate them.”
Josh Woodgate reflects on his role as Caliban: “Prospero is forcing Caliban and Ariel to do his bidding through his magic. Caliban has no choice but to submit to his will because Prospero took over the island when Caliban believes it should be his. Prospero has power over everyone and everything.”
Expect a cracking pace. “We’re using a heavily abridged script that Peter Gould did for Get Thee To The Funnery in Craftsbury, Vermont, in 2010. It’s about half the length of the original, now just over two hours, and though it moves so briskly, you never feel you’re forgetting about any characters,” says Matthew.
“The strength of this production lies in the juxtaposition of absurd comedy and serious drama,” Matthew says of a play with three narrative strands running in parallel on one island.
“There’s a mixture of the comedy of Much Ado About Nothing or A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the love story of Romeo And Juliet and also the tragedy of death plots and the treatment of Caliban. The tempest itself is a tragedy.
“In our production, the comedic energy of Charlie Clarke as Trincula, Molly Whitehouse as Stephana, Dan Poppitt as Alonso and Rocks Smith as Francisca is sharply contrasted against the more sinister and thought-provoking portrayal of Mark Simmonds’s Prospero.
“We had several auditions for Prospero, and Mark really brought an energy to the dialogue that shone out above everyone else that felt like a deeper character; why Prospero is doing the things he’s doing.”
Matthew is joined in the production team by Mikhail Lim, as he was for Black Sheep’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World at the National Centre for Early Music, York, last October.
“Our adaptation of The Tempest is set to be an unmissable experience, blending Shakespeare’s genius, innovative staging and an evocative live musical score to bring the story to life in a bold, fresh, and deeply engaging way,” concludes Matthew.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Who is in Black Sheep Theatre’s cast for The Tempest?
Mark Simmonds as Propsero; Freya McIntosh, Miranda; Gemma-Louise Keane, Ariel; Dan Poppitt, Alonso, Spirit; Megan Conway, Antonia; Chloe Pearson, Ferdinanda; Isaac McAndrews, Gonzalo; Rosie Stirling, Sebastian: Josh Woodgate, Caliban; Charlie Clarke, Trinculo; Molly Whitehouse, Stephana: Mickey Moran, Adrian, Spirit; Ellie Carrier, Francisco, Juno, Spirit; Rocks Smith, Boatswain, Ceres, Spirit, and Justine Hughes, Master of Ship, Iris and Spirit.