Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 5, No. 0186. Saturday, 5 March 1994.
From: David M Richman <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Friday, 4 Mar 1994 10:57:29 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Tempest Vanishing Banquet
Cary Mazer raises the necessary questions about who can see what in this play:
"The tune of our catch played by the picture of nobody." If the lords can't see
the spirits (unless the spirits--Ariel's harpy-- wish to be seen) let the
audience delight in watching the spirits whisk away the banquet.) Years ago, I
acted in a production of *The Tempest*, in the round, in which the banquet was
snatched away by invisible (to the lords) spirits. As a rule, I seek solutions
that don't involve high tech. The great American scenographer (his term)
Robert Edmund Jones used to say that elaborate scenic production was a sign of
low vitality in the theatre.
David Richman
University of New Hampshire