“Welcome to the enchanted island of Utopia!”
Tempest Masque, directed by Mark Turner, PhD candidate at East 15, and artistic director of Cornucopia Theatre, pioneers of innovative Shakespeare productions.
Expanding on the ‘labs’ and performances at the Clifftown Theatre, Southend, and at the Cockpit Theatre, London, 2022/2023, the Lakeside Theatre show will feature structured improvisation, audience games and challenges, masks, live music, dance, ‘bouffon’, and Shakespeare’s masterful text.
You are invited to join in traditional games and activities, watch artistic demonstrations, and enjoy excerpts from our adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. We encourage your participation in performance skills workshops, and express your opinions on utopia, dystopia, love, and other themes from ‘Tempest Masque’.
You will be welcomed to the enchanted island of Utopia by the Masquerading Prospero (or the Prosperous Masquerado), invited to celebrate in a carnival procession, visit the utopian chill out zone, and eat at the banquet.
“Welcome to the enchanted island of Utopia!”, but be aware, the Utopian chorus can flip into the Dystopian at any time!
Tempest Masque is inspired by the only documented early 17th century performances of ‘The Tempest’ (1611/1613) at Whitehall Palace, where The King’s Men presented The Tempest, probably as a multimedia masque. As part of our renaissance-contemporary ‘conversation’ we mix ideas for a cutting-edge, international performance. We invite you to question what can The Tempest mean today? What are the storms of life, and the “sea change” necessary to guide us through them?
This production has been developed as part of Mark Turner’s PhD practice as research at East 15 Acting School (University of Essex).
A £5 Studio show as part of our extended homegrown talent 2022-23 season.
