By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Monday 9 December 2024, opens 17 December and runs through 1 February 2025 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We’ve certainly had the recent windy weather to fully appreciate the timing of this much looked-forward-to production starring Storm Sigourney.

• Read on for reasons including how it’s only really when Weaver gets to her feet that this production has wind in its sails

Gone are the cameras and screens which characterised director Jamie Lloyd’s most recent work (Romeo and Juliet, Duke Of York’s Theatre) and instead we have an enchanting opening against a giant billowing blue sheet signifying waves and sails as Sigourney Weaver’s Prospero sits on a stool contemplating her exile with her daughter to the island where Shakespeare’s tale is set.

Switching the gender of the main character here reminds us of Weaver’s most acclaimed work – her Oscar nominations include film Aliens which explores the mother-daughter bond – as she makes her West End debut in 1 of the most anticipated productions of the year.

However, it was aerial work, enchanting singing and the touching vulnerability of Mason Alexander Park playing, aptly, Ariel, a spirit freed yet bound to serve Prospero, that we came away from this much-abbreviated production most impressed by.

Funny too is Gavin and Stacey‘s Mathew Horne (The Miser, Garrick Theatre) as king’s jester Trinculo who is 1 of a number shipwrecked when Prospero conjures up a storm to deliver the men who betrayed her to her exile to the island to suffer the consequences.

One of our party is a big fan of The Tempest, which we’ve previously seen starring Simon Russell Beale at the Barbican in 2017, and felt this version was too edited and that those unfamiliar with it would struggle to get as much out of it as Shakespeare intended.

There are essentially 3 stories in The Tempest with Prospero separating those shipwrecked on the island and herself being won over by the love story between her daughter Miranda, Mara Huf giving us Zendaya hooded vibes, and Bridgerton‘s James Phoon giving it his all.

Then we have the lighthearted drunks including Horne’s Trinculo and Jason Barnett’s Stephano (The Hot Wing King, National Theatre) who plot a rebellion against Prospero with the island’s only inhabitant Caliban, Forbes Masson (Doctor Faustus, Duke Of York’s Theatre) giving a very memorable sensual comic turn bare-chested, complete with basque and skimpy pants.

In the final story Selina Cadell (Hamlet, Riverside Studios) has the sparkle in 1’s eye of someone who knows exactly what’s going on while others around her may be less clear as the final group of those shipwrecked face their reckoning for their part in Prospero’s downfall.

Weaver’s Prospero sits on a stool for much of the 1st act heavily microphoned and could be reciting an audiobook. It’s only really when she gets to her feet in the 2nd act that this play has propulsion and gets wind in its sails.

We’re delighted Lloyd’s given his cameras and screens the elbow, this is a visually arresting Tempest and certainly an improvement on the weather outside but we just wished Storm Sigourney’s central role had a bit more legs and a little less stool.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Theatre Royal Drury Lane and Jamie Lloyd Company Tickets
• Have you seen an Jamie Lloyd show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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