THE TEMPEST by William Shakespeare - Prelude to the Play 19:30

Prospero, a scholar and Duke of Milan, abandoned his rule in favour of study and the arts. Stripped of power by his brother and cast adrift with his young daughter Miranda, he washes ashore on a remote island. Like many of Shakespeare's enchanted landscapes, the island becomes a field of experiment and play for its new arrivals. A place where humanity, far from civilization, can begin anew: the power and powerlessness of human reason in contest with nature, of which it is a part. All this against the dark backdrop of colonization.

The Tempest gathers all of Shakespeare's great themes. With the aid of the air spirit Ariel, Prospero conjures a storm that brings his enemies - his treacherous brother and his allies - as shipwrecked castaways into his power, allowing him to escape the murderous plot of the poetic monster Caliban. Miranda, who has seen little of the world beyond the island, falls in love with one of the castaways: Ferdinand, Prince of Naples. If Prospero, who also serves as director of his own past and future, were to renounce his revenge, the island romance would be a first step toward universal reconciliation.

Shakespeare wrote The Tempest as his 37th and final play. In its poetic playfulness, its hunger for discovery, its raw brutality and tender melancholy lies the legacy and farewell of one of the greatest theatrical minds.

The Tempest is performed in a version celebrated at Vienna's Burgtheater, adapted by Joachim Lux for three actors who also embody other characters - a version that featured Joachim Meyerhoff, among others.
Performing: Johanna Engel, Christina Weiser - who will join the permanent ensemble of Zimmertheater from Staatstheater Kassel next season - and Bernhard Hurm from Theater Lindenhof.

Prospero/Trinculo - Bernhard Hurm
Ariel/Ferdinand/Stephano - Christina Weiser