RSC Live: The Tempest (2017)

On Monday, March 27, 2017 as part of the Talks and Screenings at the Folger, the Folger hosted a screening of RSC Live: The Tempest, a live cinema broadcast from the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Company, captured from Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, in their own Elizabethan Theatre. The production was directed by RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and starring Simon Russell Beale as Prospero.

On a distant island a man waits. Robbed of his position, power and wealth, his enemies have left him in isolation. But this is no ordinary man, and this no ordinary island. Prospero is a magician, able to control the very elements and bend nature to his will. When a sail appears on the horizon, he reaches out across the ocean to the ship that carries the men who wronged him. Creating a vast magical storm he wrecks the ship and washes his enemies up on the shore. When they wake they find themselves lost on a fantastical island where nothing is as it seems.

In a unique partnership with Intel, advanced technology was used in this bold reimagining of Shakespeare’s magical play, creating an unforgettable theatrical experience.

For more information on the production, visit the RSC archives here.

The Royal Shakespeare Company

Everyone at the Royal Shakespeare Company, from actors to technicians, milliners to musicians, plays a part in creating the world audience members see on stage. RSC's work begins its life at their Stratford workshops and theatres and they share it with audiences across the world through touring, residencies and online activity. So, wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work that is made in Shakespeare’s home town in the UK. Shakespeare has been performed and celebrated in Stratford for centuries and the RSC has trained generations of the very best theatre makers since the Company was founded in 1961. RSC pioneers contemporary approaches to Shakespeare’s plays, as well as staging the work of those who inspired him and the work of today’s playwrights. Learn more about RSC Live here.