Tempest, 1982, Royal Shakespeare Company: Prospero, Derek Jacobi; Ariel, Mark Rylance; Ferdinand, Michael Maloney; Miranda, Alic

The Tempest; Director Ron Daniels; Designer, Maria Bjornson; Photographer, Donald Cooper (ahds.ac.uk/performingarts); Royal Shakespeare Company, August 1982.

"As the King of Naples's ship 'splits' off Prospero's island, heading into the audience with sail full-stretched like a vast heraldic banner, it is almost instantly replaced, in the thunder and lightning of the storm, by the image of another ship, wrecked long ago, with tattered sails and broken masts. This, you feel at once, must be the 'bark' on which Prospero was beached, 12 years earlier; and here stands the exiled Duke of Milan, back to the audience, slowly lowering his magic staff as he calms the storm he has conjured for his great revenge." Richard Findlater, Plays and Players 8.82. Opening Date: 11 August 1982, Theatre: Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

From early on The Tempest has invited spectacular staging, suited to indoor theatre and modern lighting. HMR