Essay Example on The Tempest by Shakespeare

Summary of the story

The play will start with a sea storm which traps a ship which has Duke Antonio. A spirit called Ariel caused the weather change under the command of Prospero. He was the Duke before his brother stole his position in the political administration. It was Prospero's revenge Antonio since which caused him to lose his dukedom. Antonio was in the company of his friends such as Sebastian, Ferdinand and Gonzalo. Prospero found Ferdinando and introduced him to his daughter called Miranda. Prospero organized a masque to encourage the young couple to get married. They fell in love and later got married after the masque. The goddesses involved in the masque celebration include Juno, Ceres and Iris. Ariel refused to inform Prospero on the conspiracy to kill King Alonso. The spirit is bitter because of the former Duke's mistreatment behaviours. Stephano's brother and Sebastian take part in the execution of the murder of King Alonso and Gonzalo. Caliban who was a long-term servant of Prospero arranged a coup against him with Trinculo and Stephano. The scene ends at the moment when Antonio slits the throat of Prospero at a corridor near the shopping center. During the wedding ceremony, Prospero's enemies caught him off guard and killed him. After the duke's death, Miranda takes up the roles of leading the duke hood. Miranda sets Ariel and Caliban free from slavery to live and develop their own lives. I will take part in the play as Miranda since I am a perfect fit for the description.

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Purpose

The purpose of the staging is to make the play entertaining and simple for the understanding of the audience. The staging includes the use of an art theatre, 1900's themed costumes, elaborate and simple sets, past time frame, sound effects and music. I chose the mode of staging since it is creative and diverse. The play performance will illustrate themes such as love, theatre and magic found in the story.

Setting

The play will take place in Radio City Music Hall located in New York City. The theatre has the best Art Deco style since 1932. The stage has golden decors such as the curtain which rises up and down. The room holds more than 5,940 seats for the audience. The podium has a wide space which is an important aspect of locating a venue. There will be props such as swords, cups, chairs, tables and arrows. There will be a display of varieties of food, red roses and jars of wine during the masque celebration and wedding. The theatre has lighting equipment which will enhance the mood of the play. There will be limited lighting during the sea storm scene. The play will use both simple and elaborate sets which will facilitate the understanding of the audience. The sets will show the time and venue of the play. The part during the wedding ceremony of Ferdinand and Miranda will have red as the main colour and a simple set design. The theme colour will indicate the love between the young couple in the play ceremony. The introduction of the sea storm section will employ the elaborate technique since it needs props such as a ship. It is important to note that grey and black will be the main colours of the part. The moment of the masque ceremony will employ red, pink and yellow colours while the rest of the dialogue will use the blue colour with elaborate set strategies.

Costumes will employ the l900's theme to relate to the time of staging the play. In the ship scene, the main male characters such as Prospero and Sebastian will wear grey or blue suits, boots, collar shirts and long sized coats. The Ariel representative will have white clothing as the costume. Miranda will dress in a peach dress and a golden long dress during her wedding ceremony. There will be a grey monster costume to represent Caliban in the story. Alonso, Adrian and Francisco characters will dress in red and golden royal clothing which includes golden chains and rings. Master will have a ship hat, lace-up boots, dreadlocks wig and vintage clothes. Sailors will have ship caps, rugged shirts and trousers also boots. Gonzalo being the oldest character will be bald and carry a walking stick. The king's servants will dress in white vintage shirts and black vintage trousers. Reapers and Nymphs will have torn and dirty costumes to relate to the play.

Timeframe

Time periods for staging a play include past, present and future. The play will take place in the past that is in 1937. The duration of play will be during Hilter's rule over Germany. Hilter was a bad leader who led to the killing of innocent people around the world. It will illustrate that the audience should refuse colonization and misuse of power in society. It is because the play has oppressors such as Prospero who enslaved Ariel. The spirit abandoned Prospero because it was in need of its freedom.

Characters

17 individuals will represent the characters involved in the play. It will consist of people of different ages, races and gender. It will ensure an accurate representation of the characters. It will make it interesting for the audience due to diversity among the people. Men between the ages of 35-45 years will play the role of Prospero, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio and Master. Actors within the age group of 50- 70 years old will take up the roles of Gonzalo, Francisco, Alonso, Adrian and Francisco. Men aged less than 35 years will play the rest of the male characters such as Caliban and Trinculo. There are four female characters in the story which include Miranda, Juno, Ceres and Iris. I will take up the role of Miranda in the play. Miranda is the only character appearing on stage because the others are goddesses. It is ethical for the play to include people from different backgrounds since it will illustrate unity. It will ensure that the audience understands and relates to the story.

Sound

At the beginning of the play, the soundtrack will consist of one bar that loops five times. Within the initial four playings, there is a bar that separates them. However, the fifth attempt is after the fourth play without causing separation between the bars. The song will comprise of drums, claps, stamps and distorted percussions to enhance the stormy theme. A tuned percussion will play a C minor chord to add atmosphere to the song. Vocals will act as a backup in the development of the soundtrack. The introduction of the scene starts with the song which helps convey a storm to the audience.

The soundtrack which will portray the concept of sea escape will be made using an oceanic drum to generate an appropriate backdrop to match the scene. Tuned and detuned percussions are requirements needed in the song. They depict features of the sea such as waves and the animal creatures. In the last moments of the play, the soundtrack will focus on a bassoon melody made up of horns and flutes as the main instruments. The first step is to play the flutes then followed by blowing horns. The last stage is to coordinate the musical instruments together. It will create a pure and peaceful atmosphere which is ideal for the brewing love between Miranda and Ferdinand.