Edward Gordon Craig and The Tempest

Patrick Le Boeuf (1)

1 BnF - Bibliothèque nationale de France

Although he never produced The Tempest, Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) proved interested in that play throughout his life. The opinion expressed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) that Shakespeare's play was intended only for the imagination was regarded by him as a challenge to stage directors. He set the action undersea, on a sunken island. He devoted most of his efforts to the opening scene, for which he envisioned a number of distinct solutions, until in 1942 he decided that Prospero should be alone on stage for this scene. His discussions with Peter Brook (born 1925) led to some of his conceptions being realized in Brook's 1957 and 1968 productions of the play. His ideas were so bold and so much ahead of their time that they were only realized in the late 20th century, in stage and film productions of the play by directors who were not aware of their predecessor.

Domaines: Musique, musicologie et arts de la scène

Patrick Le Boeuf. Edward Gordon Craig and The Tempest. Shakespeare in Performance. I, The Comedies, Nov 2011, Le Mans, France. pp.48-68. ⟨hal-00854111⟩