The Wykehamist
wolves, apes, snakes and songs’, another testament to KF’ s creative direction. Most notable of all, nonetheless, was Eva Crouch’ s( G, 24-) Prospera and her three ghostly Ariels, ingeniously sidestepping the infamous directions of‘ enter Ariel, invisible’ with the use of multicoloured veils. The entire cast worked together wonderfully, bringing to life The Tempest of old in tight conjunction with KF’ s modern vision for the play. Truly, props to all the actors involved.
Speaking of props, none of this would have been possible without the incredible work of the tech, costumes, make-up and set-design departments. SPK’ s costumes perfectly represented the nature of the characters they were donned by, for instance, Cassian Hoare’ s( K, 22-) two-faced suit portraying the duality of Antonio’ s personality. Stephano and Trinculo’ s ridiculous natures were reflected in their patched and nonsensical garments, whilst the splitting of Ariel into a ghostly trinity was accomplished by each getting their own distinct colour— all especially impressive for a 100 % wig-free production!
The tech crew behind the lighting, sound and music, meanwhile, added yet another layer of immersion to the play, especially through the eerie melodies of the island intertwined with the dialogue. QEII’ s in-house composer and pianist, Asher Li( E, 21-) demonstrated his latest set of haunting but memorable motifs, steadily building the tension in the audience.
Of course, The Tempest is also a play heavily reliant on the supernatural, and AML and her excellent make-up team captured this perfectly. From the tortured visage of Toby’ s despicable Caliban, capturing the monstrous essence of a twisted, tormented creature, to the glistening, excellently flamboyant representation of the ethereal spirits Iris, Ceres and Juno, the entire makeup team’ s incredible efforts truly made the show a spectacle to behold.
25