Ralph Fiennes leads the cast as Prospero alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst as Trinculo, Chris Andrew Mellon (Sebastian), Michael Benz (Ferdinand), Tom Byam Shaw (Ariel), Jim Creighton (Adrian), Ian Drysdale (Francisco), Elisabeth Hopper (Miranda), Andrew Jarvis (Gonzalo), James Simmons (Alonso), Giles Terera (Caliban), Julian Wadham (Antonio) and Clive Wood (Stephano) as well as Steven Butler, Eke Chukwu, Meline Danielewicz, Gisele Edwards, Hayley Ellenbrook , Grahame Fox, Charlie Hamblett, Jami Reid-Quarrell and Itxaso Moreno.
Set and costume designs are by Stephen Brimson Lewis, with lighting by Paul Pyant, sound by Paul Groothuis and music by Shaun Davey. The Tempest is produced by the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company, Duncan C Weldon, Paul Elliott & Terri and Timothy Childs.
Almost certainly Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest can lay claim to being the first ever work of magic realism. Marooned and left to die on a remote island, Prospero can command spirits, create apparitions and manipulate the elements. By using his magic, he assembles his enemies to take revenge on them, and in the process awakens in Miranda, his teenage daughter, her first experience of love. The theme of reconciliation gives immense emotional force to Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage.
Trevor Nunn’s opening production as Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company was Flare Path. This was followed by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Nunn’s production of The Lion In Winter, with Joanna Lumley and Robert Lindsay, previews from 5 November 2011.