Trevor Nunn’s usual directorial brilliance is not much in evidence and, when Ralph Fiennes is off-stage, and Prospero is off-stage for a lot of the time, things are pretty dull. The spirits are exceptionally twee, the lords are lethargic, the clowns unfunny, and the goddesses (aerialists) speak the verse appallingly. Shakespeare only comes to life when Fiennes delivers the great soliloquies of farewell and the action moves to a scene of reconciliation and such Christian forgiveness that Prospero even kisses Caliban.
Trevor Nunn’s usual directorial brilliance is not much in evidence and, when Ralph Fiennes is off-stage, and Prospero is off-stage for a lot of the time, things are pretty dull. The spirits are exceptionally twee, the lords are lethargic, the clowns unfunny, and the goddesses (aerialists) speak the verse appallingly. Shakespeare only comes to life when Fiennes delivers the great soliloquies of farewell and the action moves to a scene of reconciliation and such Christian forgiveness that Prospero even kisses Caliban.