English Theatre Milan are staging a new version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest on 4th and 5th May. The themes of the play span conflict and reconciliation, the clash of cultures and colonialism, as well as revenge, magic and… Milan! As ETM point out in their publicity for the show “Our production is unique in another way; its very title, The Tempest in Milan, indicates links between this tragicomedy and Milan. The lead characters Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, his daughter Miranda, and brother Antonio, come from Milan, and the name of our city is mentioned over twenty times. We hope this interpretation will contribute to making Milan a ‘Shakespearian’ city as it well deserves”.
The fruit of ETM’s annual workshop, this staging of The Tempest in English marks something of a first in Milan. The cast is composed of both professionals and non-professionals, mostly native English speakers, hailing from the USA, UK, Ireland, Iran and Italy.
Led by Maggie Rose, who teaches British Theatre Studies at Milan State University (L’Università Statale di Milano), this production marks a departure from ETM’s previous projects: a veritable “research lab” drawing together contributions from a variety of disciplines. Artist Betta Marzorati has designed a backcloth for the Banquet scene; a group of students from the Brera School of Set Design (Scuola di Scenografia) have designed the Banquet and lent their expertise to both the props and costumes. An intern from the Catholica University of Milan (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) forms part of the impressive team assembled by Maggie and ETM.
The play is directed by Maggie Rose with Melissa Marino doubling as both Assistant Director and the character of Stephano. The cast include: Tommaso Bavestrelli (Caliban), Amy Barton (Prospero), Manfredi Costa (Gonzalo), Julia DiBona (Sebastian), Giulia Gibbon (Ariel), Verlie Anne Jones (Trinculo), Hugo McCafferty (Alonso), Melissa Marino (Stephano), Shila Pakbaz (Antonio), Daria Popa (Miranda) and Eugenio Scotti Camuzzi (Ferdinand).
The music is led by Amy Barton, artistic director of the Youth Choir of Milan and soprano with the Milan Singers.
Banquet Design: Beatrice Di Vincenzo, Margherita Magnoni, Matilde Paganini, Martina Toia (Scuola di Scenografia, Accademia di Brera)
The show is produced by Sal Cabras of ETM and Julia DiBona is Assistant Stage Manager
The performance will take place on two nights: Saturday 4th May at 8pm at All Saints Church, via Solferino 17 (which recently hosted Justin Butcher in the J Productions presentation of The Devil’s Passion) and Sunday 5th May at 4pm at CAM, corso Garibaldi 27, the former convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which features a beautiful portico by Bramante.
Find out more: visit English Theatre Milan for full details.
