Ringplay on Aug 11 2009 | Filed under: General Theatre, Productions, Shakespeare in Paradise
Listen up!
Dana Ferguson and David Burrows read Ariel and Antonio
Roger Gibson (Adrian) smiles for the camera
Director Craig Pinder gives, well, direction
Veteran actor Mik Bancroft returns to the stage for The Tempest
Ensemble work
Gene Cage (Ferdinand) listens to the director
Ringplay on Aug 10 2009 | Filed under: General Theatre, Productions, Shakespeare in Paradise
As noted before, The Tempest has been cast. And here’s the cast:
Ringplay on Aug 09 2009 | Filed under: General Theatre
A very special thanks to all those who came out to audition for The Tempest over the past two weekends. We were impressed both with the level of interest and of talent, and we’ve found something to do for everyone who came out.
Now begins the hard work. Co-directors Craig Pinder and Patti-Anne Ali will work with the cast to build the ensemble and create a production of The Tempest that will do Ringplay proud.
Expect Ringplay’s next set of auditions — for the docu-musical Music of The Bahamas — to take place within the next couple of weeks.
Watch this space!
And for more information about Shakespeare in Paradise, check out the blog, here.
Ringplay on Aug 08 2009 | Filed under: General Theatre, Productions
Auditions were held for men today, and the missing parts have been cast. Thanks to all who came out and auditioned — and also to all who told us they were willing to be put to work in different ways. Have no fear. We’ll be putting you to work!
Tempest Auditions @ the Hub
Craig Pinder works with a hopeful
Craig Pinder gives advice to a potential Stephano (Tony "Skeebo" Roberts) and Trinculo (Mark Redgrave)
Ringplay on Aug 07 2009 | Filed under: Annoucements, Productions
We’re still looking for a few good men.
All the female parts have been cast, but we’re still looking for some men for The Tempest. We’ll be auditioning at the Hub, Bay and Colebrooke, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday August 8th, 2009.
Audition pieces may be downloaded here.
Ringplay on Aug 05 2009 | Filed under: General Theatre, Productions
In 2001, the inaugural Ringplay production was the Bahamian Macbeth. An adaptation of Shakespeare’s original play for a Bahamian setting and audience, it had been created originally during the 1970s by the late Rosanna Seaborn (aka Todd), and in 2000, the newly-formed Ringplay Productions modernized it for the 21st century. In it, Macbeth was transformed into an ambitious politician who kills his Prime Minister to achieve his dream. In the first production of Ringplay’s Macbeth, the witches were talk show hosts who controlled the play literally from above; Malcolm was the Deputy Prime Minister, and help was sought from Washington (in the second they were obeah practitioners). The adaptation sacrificed some things — like the full significance of the Elizabethan cosmology — but it gained others.
Image from Zecora Ura's 2006 adaptation of The Tempest
This year, Ringplay is working on a similar adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Widely understood to be Shakespeare’s swan song, the original play tells the story of Prospero, the scholar-magician who loses his dukedom to his more ambitious brother, and who, after being exiled from his home, winds up on an island whose chief inhabitants are a legion of spirits, and Caliban, one creature who takes some kind of human form. Prospero settles on the island with his daughter Miranda, and he raises her, and tries to tame the wild being he meets there. The Tempest of the title refers to the magical hurricane Prospero conjures up to shipwreck his brother and the king who had assisted the overthrow, and the play unfolds under Prospero’s power.
In Shakespeare’s original, Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, his brother Antonio is the usurper, and Alonso is the medieval King of Naples, Antonio’s ally and backer. In the Ringplay adaptation, the kingdoms are twenty-first century hotel conglomerates; Alonso is a woman, and the stakes are the control of Prosperity Cay, an island in The Bahamas where the two great companies, Naples-America and Hotel Milan, hope perhaps to build their next great joint resort. The sea they are crossing is the Bahamian branch of the Atlantic, the spirits are local deities, and Ariel the head spirit takes on forms that include a chickcharney.
The Tempest is a play that’s full of illusion and spectacle. Nothing in the play is as it appears to be. Caliban is written as an uncultured brute, but he has the most beautiful language in the entire play; Ariel, on the other hand, is reduced to singing some of the silliest songs ever penned for the stage. Prospero forces his enemies to feel loss and remorse, and in the end forgives them; he creates the best circumstances he can for his daughter to fall in love, and then forbids her to exercise her feelings; and in the end he sets all the spirits free, renounces his art, and turns away from his island to take up the reins of industry once again.
The Tempest goes into rehearsal on August 10th, and will be performed for school audiences and for the general public during Shakespeare in Paradise between 5th and 12th October 2009. Make plans now to see it — the thing about plays is that once they close, there’s no guarantee they’ll be mounted again!
Ringplay on Aug 02 2009 | Filed under: Productions, Shakespeare in Paradise
Yesterday we held the first auditions for The Tempest, Ringplay’s signature production for Shakespeare in Paradise.
Running the auditions was our guest director Craig Pinder, a Bahamian actor whose career on London’s West End includes featured performances in Les Misérables and Mamma Mia! as well as numerous productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Craig’s co-directing the production of The Tempest along with Trini director Patti-Anne Ali, and in conjunction with Nicolette Bethel and Philip A. Burrows of Ringplay Productions and Shakespeare in Paradise. He’s also playing the part of Prospero in the production.
The auditions were held at The Hub, East Bay Street, and got a turnout of some 18 people, some of whom were trained actors, others who were raw talents, and we had some really happy surprises. The problem isn’t whether we have enough talent for The Tempest now — it’s how we can use the talent we have.
Check back for photographs of the auditions, taken by David Burrows!
Ringplay on Jul 31 2009 | Filed under: Festivals, Productions, Ringplay Productions, Shakespeare in Paradise
The first auditions for The Tempest by William Shakespeare, adapted and dramaturged for a Bahamian setting by Nicolette Bethel, Travis Cartwright-Carroll, Reva Sharma, and Toni Francis, will be held tomorrow, Saturday, August 1st.
The Tempest is the signature piece of this year’s Shakespeare in Paradise theatre festival (October 5th – 12th, 2009).
Auditions will be held on Saturday, August 1st beginning at 11:00 am at The Hub, Bay Street and Colebrook Lane.
The parts that are available can be found here.
Information about the directors of this production can be found here.
You are asked to come with a prepared piece of no more than two minutes in length. You will also be asked to read either a monologue or a part of a scene from the play.
You can download those pieces here.
Future auditions will take place for Music of The Bahamas and we will post that information as soon as it becomes available.
If you have any questions you can email us at admin@shakespeareinparadise.org
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