McCarter Theatre - Tempest Puppet Play Guide

Prospero The right Duke of Milan
For the last twelve years, since his brother usurped his Dukedom in Milan, Prospero has been living on an island inhabited by magical spirits. Prospero has the ability to create magical spells and can use these spells for good or evil.
"For twelve years, Miranda, twelve years, I have inhabited this island,
waiting for this day, and I will have my justice."

Antonio Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
Antonio is Prospero's brother and is guilty of robbing him of his title, position, and home. When he is shipwrecked on the island he has no idea where he is and fears for the life of his king.
"Why should I govern this kingdom while my brother Prospero gets all of the credit?"

Ferdinand King of Naples
Ferdinand is the young King of Naples. When he first meets Miranda he instantly falls in love with her. He does everything that Prospero asks of him in order to earn her hand in marriage.
"You can do with me what you will, for if I can but behold this
beautiful maiden once per day, I can endure any punishment."

Caliban a savage and deformed slave
Caliban is the half-breed son of a witch named Sycorax who once ruled the island. Once loved and nurtured by Prospero, Caliban is now caged and tortured by him as punishment for attacking Miranda.
"I serve a tyrant who has stolen this island from me; by sorcery, he took it."

Trinculo The King's jester
With a quirky, wild sense of humor, Trinculo is at his wise-cracking best when in the company of his partner in crime, Stephano. He is easily frightened by the unknown spirits of the island.
"O, ho, monster! We know what belongs to royalty. O King Stephano!"

Stephano The King's butler
Stephano is mystified by his new surroundings yet recognizes this as an opportunity to have all the power he ever dreamed of. He is quick to convince Trinculo and Caliban to share in his plans.
"With the king and duke and all of their company dead... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...
here we shall inherit. We shall rule this island."

Miranda daughter to Prospero
Miranda is Prospero's innocent daughter who has never before in her life, at least as she remembers it, encountered a human being other than her father and Caliban. She is instantly smitten when she first lays eyes on Ferdinand.
"I might call him a thing divine,
for nothing natural have I ever seen so noble."

Ariel an airy spirit
Ariel is Prospero's chief spirit. He is beholden to Prospero for rescuing him from imprisonment twelve years ago. As a result, Prospero uses every opportunity he can to remind Ariel of this and force him to do different tasks on the island. Ariel's one desire is to be free.
"All hail great master, grave sir Hail. I come to answer thy best pleasure.
Be it to fly, to swim, or jump into the fire."

Did you know?

Part of the Epitaph on Shakespeare's grave reads:

"Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare,
Blest by the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."

Shakespeare's grave is at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

TEMPEST
1 : A violent windstorm, frequently accompanied by rain, snow, or hail.
2 : Furious agitation, commotion, or tumult; an uproar:
"The tempest in my mind / Doth from my senses take all feeling" (Shakespeare).

Abhorr'd - detested.
Art inclined - forced to be disposed to a certain course of action. To influence one to have a certain tendency.
Behold - to see or gaze upon.
Beseech - to request earnestly; beg for.
Billows - a great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound.
Bogs, fens and flats - areas having a wet, spongy, acidic substrate composed chiefly of moss and peat in which characteristic shrubs and herbs and sometimes trees usually grow.
Charms - the power or quality of pleasing or delighting; attractiveness.
Credulous - disposed to believe too readily; gullible.
Contempt - the act of despising.
Dejected - cast down in spirits.
Dost - does.
Dukedom - the office, rank, or title of a duke.
Ebbing Neptune - the god of the ocean and sea, flowing back to the sea.
E'er - ever.
Fiend - a person of great wickedness or maliciousness.
Fortuitous - occurring by chance, lucky.
Inch-meal - every inch, entirely.
Hail - used to express greeting or welcome.
Hagseed - offspring of an ugly, wicked woman.

Heaviness - emotional weight.
Indulgence - absolution from censure and punishment.
Malignant - criminal; wrong; evil.
Nymph - any of the minor divinities of nature in classical mythology represented as beautiful maidens dwelling in the mountains, forests, trees, and waters.
O'er - over.
Perchance - perhaps.
Perfidious - of or marked by violating good faith.
Plight - an unfortunate or difficult situation.
Pox - a curse.
Prithee - used to express a polite request, please.
Shrugg'st - expressive sign of content.
Solemnize - to celebrate, usually a marriage.
Supplant - to overthrow, undermine, or force away, in order to get a substitute in place of.
Tedious - tiresome because of length or dullness.
Temper'd - to harden or strengthen by application of heat or by heating and cooling.
Thy - 'your' or 'belonging to thee'.
Twain - two.
Usurp- to seize by force or without right.
Vengeance - punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense.
Wilt - "will."

How much do you know about Shakespeare? While not every detail of the Bard's life is a known fact, we do have a great deal of information about his life. The following are some frequently asked questions with information provided courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

William Shakespeare

When was Shakespeare born?
According to the church records, Shakespeare was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, on April 26, 1564. When he died, on April 23, 1616, Shakespeare was said to have been in his fifty-third year (i.e. he was fifty-two), which would have been impossible if he was born on or after April 24th. Given that three days would be a reasonable interval between birth and baptism, April 23rd has therefore come to be celebrated as his birthday.

What was Shakespeare's schooling?
There are no academic records surviving for Stratford's grammar school in the sixteenth century, although there is information available about the schoolmasters at that time, which shows that they included a high proportion of Oxford graduates. It is possible to reconstruct Shakespeare's schooling from our knowledge of other, better-documented schools, elsewhere in the country, since there was virtually a national system of education established by the mid-sixteenth century. A uniform structure of schools, freely available to the male children of the town, covered the country, following the same basic principles and adhering to a common curriculum. Numerous grammar schools had been founded in the mid sixteenth-century, during the reign of the Protestant King Edward VI, in order to produce educated and responsible citizens who could respond to the ideals of the Protestant Reformation by reading and translating, for themselves, the Bible and other religious writings.

How many children did Shakespeare have, and what were their names?
William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway had three children - Susanna baptised on May 26, 1583, and twins, Judith and Hamnet, baptised on February 2, 1585.

What did Shakespeare do between leaving Stratford and working in London?

Stratford Shakespeare House

One of the puzzles of Shakespeare's life is 'the lost years' - the period between 1585, when Shakespeare's twins were baptised in Stratford, and 1592, when he surfaces as an established playwright in London. The most famous legend is that he poached deer from nearby Charlecote Park and ran away to London to avoid punishment. Other suggestions are that he was apprenticed to a butcher, employed as a lawyer's clerk, or became a soldier or a teacher. It is also possible, and seems quite likely, that he joined one of the companies of players which visited Stratford in the late 1580s. But despite much searching, no records have been found of his activities in these years.

Did Shakespeare take his family to London?
There is no evidence that Shakespeare's immediate family, his wife Anne, or his three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith, ever accompanied Shakespeare to London. In 1596, his son Hamnet was buried in Stratford. Also, it is very unlikely that Shakespeare would have purchased New Place in 1597 unless he intended it to be his family's home. The evidence we have for Shakespeare's residences in London strongly suggests that he took lodgings at a succession of addresses, an arrangement that would hardly have suited a family. It is worth recording, however, that in January 1616, Stratford's town clerk, in London on business, noted in his diary the 'coming up to town' of Shakespeare and his son-in-law, John Hall.

Was Shakespeare famous in his own lifetime?
During his lifetime, Shakespeare provoked the envy and admiration of fellow writers, as we know from their surviving comments in print. The First Folio, an unprecedented collection of a playwright's work, is the best illustration of the pre-eminence awarded to him. The statue erected to his memory in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, by his family also demonstrates his status as a prosperous man of property as well as a famous poet.

What was Shakespeare's relationship with Queen Elizabeth?
Elizabeth I was an active and generous patron of the theatre. She had her own acting company called the 'Queen's Men', and stood against the puritans who wished to close down the theatres. Without her support the Elizabethan theatres would not have survived. In the 1590s court performances by acting companies became popular and Shakespeare's company was selected more than any other. Shakespeare does not refer to Elizabeth very often. He makes only one direct reference to her: "a fair vestal throned by the west" (A Midsummer Night's Dream). There is a reference to her baptism at the end of 'Henry VIII', but that section of the play is believed to have been written by Fletcher. It is believed that she liked the character of Falstaff so much, in Henry IV, Part One, that she asked Shakespeare to write a play that showed the character in love - this supposedly inspired 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. When Elizabeth died Shakespeare wrote no elegy for her, unlike most of the poets of the day. As you can see it is not easy to determine Shakespeare's relationship to Elizabeth I. It appears that he worked for her as she demanded but there is no indication that their relationship was closer than that.

When did Shakespeare die, from what did he die, and where was he buried?
Shakespeare's burial is recorded in Stratford's parish register as having taken place on April 25,1616. On his monument, inside Stratford's parish church, we read that he died on April 23rd. We do not know the cause of Shakespeare's death. He made his will on March 25th, almost a month before he died, in which he describes himself as 'in perfect health & memorie, god be praysed'. However, this was a conventional phrase and does not necessarily mean he was not already experiencing symptoms of an illness which later proved fatal. Moreover, his will of March 25th is, apparently, a re-drafting of one made in the January before, suggesting he may have been ill over an even longer period. What this illness may have been, however, we just do not know.

What are the complete works of Shakespeare?

Comedies

All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Cymbeline
Love's Labours Lost
Measure for Measure
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Troilus and Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale

Histories

Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, part 3
Henry VIII
King John
Richard II
Richard III

Tragedies

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus

Poetry

The Sonnets
A Lover's Complaint
The Rape of Lucrece
Venus and Adonis

Timeline for Shakespeare

1564: William Shakespeare is born in Stratford Upon Avon to John and Mary Shakespeare. Though his actual birthday is not determined, it is celebrated April 23 yearly.
1571: Young Will Shakespeare goes to school at age 7.
1582: William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway on Nov. 27th.
1583: Shakespeare's first child is born, his daughter, Susanna.
1585: Twins, Judith and Hamnet, are born to William and Anne.
1590: Shakespeare's plays are noticed in the London Theatre. These early plays include The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, and Richard III.
1593-1594: The Theatres are all closed due to the plague!
1594: Shakespeare helps to form the theatre company The Lord Chamberlain's Men.
1595-1596: Shakespeare becomes well recognized and very prosperous in London. During this period he writes Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream and Merchant of Venice.
1599: The Globe Theatre is built. It housed Shakespeare's company (renamed the King's Men in 1603) until 1613, when it burned to the ground, to be replaced by the so-called second Globe.
1600-1608: The Lord Chamberlain's Men become the King's Men and enjoy enormous success. During this period Shakespeare writes many plays including Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello.
1616: After writing his last plays Shakespeare dies on April 23, at the age of 52.

3.2	All students will listen actively in a variety of situations to information from a variety of sources.
3.5	All students will view, understand, and use nontextual visual information.
6.2	All students will learn democratic citizenship through the humanities, by studying literature, art, history and philosophy, and related fields.

with
Kate Turnbull	Prospero/Narrator
Puppeteers
Jim Murtha	Antonio
Sharon Eisman	Miranda
Mary Robinette Kowal	Ariel
Nelson Lugo	Caliban
Russ Salmon	Ferdinand
Peter Cooper	Trinculo
Jim Murtha	Stephano

		Prospero The right Duke of Milan For the last twelve years, since his brother usurped his Dukedom in Milan, Prospero has been living on an island inhabited by magical spirits. Prospero has the ability to create magical spells and can use these spells for good or evil. "For twelve years, Miranda, twelve years, I have inhabited this island, waiting for this day, and I will have my justice."

		Antonio Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan Antonio is Prospero's brother and is guilty of robbing him of his title, position, and home. When he is shipwrecked on the island he has no idea where he is and fears for the life of his king. "Why should I govern this kingdom while my brother Prospero gets all of the credit?"

		Ferdinand King of Naples Ferdinand is the young King of Naples. When he first meets Miranda he instantly falls in love with her. He does everything that Prospero asks of him in order to earn her hand in marriage. "You can do with me what you will, for if I can but behold this beautiful maiden once per day, I can endure any punishment."

		Caliban a savage and deformed slave Caliban is the half-breed son of a witch named Sycorax who once ruled the island. Once loved and nurtured by Prospero, Caliban is now caged and tortured by him as punishment for attacking Miranda. "I serve a tyrant who has stolen this island from me; by sorcery, he took it."

		Trinculo The King's jester With a quirky, wild sense of humor, Trinculo is at his wise-cracking best when in the company of his partner in crime, Stephano. He is easily frightened by the unknown spirits of the island. "O, ho, monster! We know what belongs to royalty. O King Stephano!"

		Stephano The King's butler Stephano is mystified by his new surroundings yet recognizes this as an opportunity to have all the power he ever dreamed of. He is quick to convince Trinculo and Caliban to share in his plans. "With the king and duke and all of their company dead... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... here we shall inherit. We shall rule this island."

		Miranda daughter to Prospero Miranda is Prospero's innocent daughter who has never before in her life, at least as she remembers it, encountered a human being other than her father and Caliban. She is instantly smitten when she first lays eyes on Ferdinand. "I might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural have I ever seen so noble."

		Ariel an airy spirit Ariel is Prospero's chief spirit. He is beholden to Prospero for rescuing him from imprisonment twelve years ago. As a result, Prospero uses every opportunity he can to remind Ariel of this and force him to do different tasks on the island. Ariel's one desire is to be free. "All hail great master, grave sir Hail. I come to answer thy best pleasure. Be it to fly, to swim, or jump into the fire."

McCarter Theatre Education Department Presents