International professional theatre company, Illyria, who have been touring outdoor shows for 27 years, will bring their dramatic and moving production of ‘The Tempest’ to Somerset this summer when they perform at the Merlin Theatre, Frome, on the ‘Ecos’ amphitheatre.
Audience members are encouraged to bring cushions, rugs and picnics. As the sun sets and the stage-lights brighten, the crowd will be seated in the near-darkness for one of the Bard’s most well-known works delivered by just five actors. The performers, all of whom live as well as train together in the rehearsal weeks before the summer tour, will perform this entirely uncut, First Folio version of the play, with polish and authenticity. Scholars on both sides of the Atlantic agree that Illyria’s performance style is the most authentic Elizabethan to be currently seen touring the UK.
“The arrival of an Illyria show is always magical for us” explains Merlin Theatre director, Claudia Pepler. “People stream in with their baskets of goodies and tartan rugs and as the evening becomes the night, we feel a real sense of history as it must have been for the Elizabethans and the Jacobeans. I’m not sure 21st century Somerset folk are quite as hardy as those of over 400 years ago though, so we do remind everyone to bring a jumper if there is a chill in the air.”
In the story of ‘The Tempest’ the magician Prospero is marooned on an island with his daughter Miranda. With the assistance of a powerful air spirit he keeps in servitude, he conjures up a vast storm to shipwreck his enemies on the shore. Inexorably they are driven towards the centre of the island to answer to Prospero – until Prospero learns that Miranda has met and fallen in love with Ferdinand, the son of his enemy. Which is greater – his thirst for revenge or his aptitude for forgiveness?
Now in its 28th year, Illyria has delighted audiences the length and breadth of the UK, as well as in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United States and Canada and has won no less than four international “Best Performance” awards as well as “5-star” and “Critics’ Choice” reviews for the lively clarity of its approach to Shakespeare’s plays.
Illyria has three shows touring this year: Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and original adaptation of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and a musical version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
‘The Tempest’ will take place on ‘Ecos’ amphitheatre, Merlin Theatre, Frome (indoors, in the case of bad weather) on 30th June at 7pm. Tickets £9.50 to £14.50 can be bought in person at the theatre, via the box office on 01373 465949 or on online www.merlin theatre.co.uk
