Pre-twentieth Century Productions of The Tempest
Melissa Keiser

 

The stage history of The Tempest is “a tale of distortion and misuse.” (Quiller-Couch). The first ever-recorded performance was on November 1, 1611 by The King’s Men. (Absolute Astronomy, Kermode). It was performed for James 1 and the royal court at the Banqueting House in the Whitehall Palace. (Absolute Astronomy, Kermode). The Banqueting House was the royal theatre that included a large stage with a proscenium arch. Performances there included lavish sets and costumes. (Kermode). There are also rumors that The Tempest may have first been performed at the Blackfriars Playhouse but there is no evidence to support that claim (Quiller-Couch).

The Tempest was one of eight Shakespeare plays that were performed during the winter of 1612-1613. This was done in celebration for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth. (Absolute Astronomy). John Heminge, the foreman of the stage company, was paid for producing these plays during the festivities (Quiller-Couch). Masque elements were added to the play at this time and were kept in for many other productions of the play afterward. At this same time, The Tempest was probably performed either indoors at the Blackfriars Playhouse or outside at The Globe. (Absolute Astronomy). There is no record of the play being performed at the Globe although many of Shakespeare’s plays were. This claim is especially unlikely because the Globe burned down in 1613. (Kermode).

Shakespeare’s play included lavish stage directions. These may have been written at Stratford and if that were the case then the stage directions would have been unnecessary at the playhouse. Many think that much of the stage directions may not have been written by Shakespeare himself and may have been added by critics and other playwrights. (Kermode). It was considered fashionable to have the masque elements written in the stage directions because of the growing desire for novelty and spectacle from the Renaissance audience. (Kermode).

The Tempest was printed in Shakespeare’s First Folio in 1623. (Bevington). The original text included written stops, brackets and random capital letters. This was a form of short hand stage direction communication to stage managers, directors and actors. These directions would tell an actor when to pause, change tone or empathize something according to Shakespeare. The written “stops” were for stage business or spectacle to occur such as a dance or song. No specific directions were written because these decisions would have been communicated in the rehearsal process and would vary from production to production (Quiller-Couch).

Sir William Davenant’s The Duke’s Men owned the rights to The Tempest during the early to mid 1600s. During the commonwealth all the London theatres were closed by the puritan government and during the restoration in 1660, the two companies, The King’s Men and The Duke’s Men split the repertoire with The Duke’s Men getting the rights to The Tempest. In 1667, Sir William Davenant wrote a new version of the play with John Dryden. Their version was performed at the Blackfriar’s Playhouse. The playhouse included lights since it was indoors but it was smaller than The Globe and gave the actors less playing room. (Absolute Astronomy, Kermode).

When Charles II reigned he allowed women to act on the stage. It was around this time that Davenant and Dryden added women actors to their productions and wrote two more female characters for the play. This new version of Shakespeare’s play was titled The Tempest or, The Enchanted Island. The character of Miranda was given a sister, Dorinda and Caliban was given a sister named Sycorax. Prospero has a foster-son, Hippolito who has never before seen a woman. The character of Hipplito became a popular breeches role during the Renaissance because it was an opportunity to now show off a woman’s legs. (Bevington). Davenant and Dryden also added more music and scenery but their version of The Tempest included less than one third of Shakespeare’s original text. (Bevington, RSC). This version of the play was performed at The Duke’s Men’s theatre at Little Lincoln’s Inn Fields from November 7, 1667 through January 21, 1669 (Quiller-Couch). It was adaptations like this that dominated the Restoration until the mid nineteenth century. (Absolute Astronomy).

In 1674, Thomas Shadwell re-adapted the Davenant/Dryden version of The Tempest as an opera. (Absolute Astronomy). Soon after in 1675, a parody was written called The Mock Tempest by Thomas Duffett. This version was written for The King’s Men and instead of opening with a storm, the play opens with a riot in a brothel. (Absolute Astronomy). The early eighteenth century was dominated by the Davenant/Dryden and Shadwell version of the play. During this time the character of Ariel was often played by a woman who was a graceful dancer and singer and the character, Caliban became a comedian’s role. (Absolute Astronomy).

On December 1, 1703 a version of the play was scheduled to be performed at a new playhouse in Little Lincoln’s Inn Fields except a storm hit the town a week earlier and created so much damage that the play seemed inappropriate to be performed at the time and was replaced by another play. (Avery). On January 6, 1716 a performance of The Tempest spent three shillings on materials for lighting effects and a few bottles of wine for Trincalo and Stephano to drink on stage in order to make a more realistic drunken scene. (Avery). October 3, 1729 a song titled “Dear, Dear Pretty Youth” was composed by Henry Purcell and was sung by the added female character, Dorinda. This performance also included two dances, “Dance of the Four Winds” and “Grand Dance of Infernal Spirits.” (Lennep).

In 1756, David Garrick staged another operatic version of The Tempest with music by John Christopher Smith. (Absolute Astronomy). Around this same time, John Phillip Kemble produced an acting version of Garrick’s opera that ended up being closer to Shakespeare’s original text but still included the added characters. (Absolute Astronomy). In 1757, Garrick produced a heavily cut version of his opera at Drury Lane. (Absolute Astronomy). Starting January 4, 1777 through March 7, 1786, Sheridan’s version of the play was performed with music by Thomas Linley (Quiller-Couch). On October 13, 1789 Kemble produced the Davenant/Dryden version at Drury Lane with more of Shakespeare’s text restored (Quiller-Couch).

The Victorian Era aided by the “pictorial movement” added lavish sets and spectacle to many plays, including The Tempest. Text was often heavily cut to make room for all the lengthy set changes. (Absolute Astronomy). The Kemble version was performed in 1806 at Covent Garden with more of Shakespeare’s text restored (Quiller-Couch). In 1821, the Davenant/Dryden version was done at the Covent Garden with added songs, dialogue and pantomime (Quiller-Couch). In 1838, William Charles Macready did a version of the play that used most of Shakespeare’s text. Another opera version was created in 1850 by Fromental Halevy called La Tempesta. (Absolute Astronomy). Charles Kean’s version in 1857 included 140 stagehands at its performance at the Princess’s Theatre. (Absolute Astronomy).

Two songs, “Full Fathom Five” and “Where the Bees Suck” by Aruthur Sullivan were often performed in the play. (Absolute Astronomy). 1894 saw another opera version by Zdenek Fibich called Boure. (Absolute Astronomy). In 1897, The Elizabethan Stage Society under William Poel produced a version that was closer to Shakespeare’s with a return of the authentic Elizabethan thrust stage. Arnold Dolmetsch, a founder of the early music movement in Britian, arranged the music from earlier sources and played them on Renaissance instruments. (RSC).

In the late 19th century, Caliban was perceived as the star of The Tempest. It was a role that actor-managers would choose for themselves. Frank Benson, an actor-manager, researched and observed monkeys in order to portray Caliban as more of a savage beast, hanging upside down and swinging from poles. (Absolute Astronomy). It seems as though Shakespeare’s original version of the play did not suite very long for the Renassiance audience. They wanted larger and grander sets, costumes, music and dances added to the play. This made the play grow into many operatic versions. However once time reached the mid 18th century into the 19th century, more producers were interested in restoring Shakespeare’s text and created productions of the play closer to what was originally performed during the Renaissance.

 

Works Cited

Avery, Emmett L., ed. The London Stage 1600-1800 Part 2: 1700-1729. Carbondale:
Southern Illinois UP, 1965. Print.

Bevington, David, ed. The Necessary Shakespeare. Third ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Print.

“Exploring Shakespeare | RSC.” Royal Shakespeare Company: RSC: Stratford-upon- Avon, UK. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. <http://www.rsc.org.uk/explore/tempest/2339_2346.htm>.

Kermode, Frank, ed. The Tempest. Fifth ed. Cambridge: Methuen & Co. LTD Harvard UP, 1962. Print.

Lennep, William, ed. The London Stage 1600-1800 Part 1: 1600-1700. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1965. Print.

Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur, and John Wilson, eds. The Tempest. London: Cambridge UP, 1969. Print.

“The Tempest: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article.” AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. <http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/The_Tempest>.