William Shakespeare's swan song ‘The Tempest' will be staged by the Shakespeare Theatre of St. Berchmans College at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The play, which is the 20th production of the 75-year-old Shakespeare Theatre of the college, is being produced jointly by the Arts Club and the Department of English, and coincides with the quatercentenary of the first performance of the play in 1611.
The story of the play is set in a remote island uninhabited except for Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, his daughter Miranda, their slave Caliban, and the attending airy spirit Ariel.
With his magical powers, Prospero raises a storm in the sea near the island, in which the ship carrying the King of Naples Alonso, his son Ferdinand, Prospero's brother and usurper to the throne of Milan, Antonio, and others, is wrecked. The voyagers are scattered on the island in several groups. They are drawn to the verge of madness by the strange music and atmosphere of the island. Ferdinand, who is left alone, is brought by Ariel near Prospero's cell where he meets the beautiful Miranda. They fall in love and Ferdinand has to undergo the trials and tribulations imposed by Prospero to test the veracity of his love. The other stranded men finally reach Prospero's place where Prospero reveals his identity and the desire to return to Milan. The play ends with their reconciliation; the pair of lovers is blessed by their fathers and others for a blissful married life.
The final scene where Prospero renounces his magic is interpreted as symbolic of Shakespeare's bidding farewell to the stage.
The. Shakespeare Theatre is staging ‘The Tempest' for the first time. The club was inaugurated in 1937 with the staging of ‘Macbeth', directed by the veteran English Professor and Malayalam literary critic M. P. Paul. The theatre was taken to greater heights by well-known Professors such as C. A. Sheppard and A. E. Augustine.
The evergreen hero of Malayalam cinema Prem Nazir had his acting debut as Shylock in ‘The Merchant of Venice' (1951), directed by Sheppard.
Later, K. J. John, K. J. Francis, K. V. Joseph, and Dr. C. C. Thomas directed various plays. Prof. Gigy Joseph is the director of ‘The Tempest', in which Prof. A. J. Thomas, Dr. Jose P. Jacob, Tania Ann Jose, and Paul Jose Mattom enact the lead roles.
