The Art of Adaptation

Introduction

If you’ve ever read The Tempest, you may notice that the script from this particular production is different from the familiar Folger, Arden, or Norton edition. The script from this production has added lines from other sources and Shakespeare plays, cut lines, and creative scene titles. The reason this script is so different from the source material is because it is an adaptation. It was created to fit into the needs of the modern world. It’s built onstage using soundscapes and draws inspiration from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and the individual artists in the room, making the play feel lived in and loved. The art of the adaptation can shape a play over 400 years old into something that fits into our world, our communities, and our humanity today.

Below, I will explore only some of many pieces of art inspired by The Tempest across the mediums of visual art, literature, film, and stage.

Visual Art

Come unto These Yellow Sands (1842) by Richard Dadd was inspired by Ariel's song that lures Ferdinand to Miranda, which was cut in this adaptation:

"Come unto these yellow sands,

And then take hands.

Curtsied when you have, and kissed

The wild waves whist.

Foot it featly here and there,

And sweet sprites bear

The burden. Hark, hark!"

Ferdinand is not overtly pictured in the painting, and neither is Ariel. Spirits are dancing under a figure that isn't Prospero, but a goddess, likely Ceres, who represents fertility and later blesses Ferdinand and Miranda’s marriage. Dadd’s take on the scene is interesting because it only represents the island spirits, deviating from the interpretation that Prospero is the primary ruling power on the island.

Scene from the Tempest (1850) by Willian Rimmer depicts a combination of scenes from The Tempest. Miranda is distressed by the ship being tossed by the tempest; she is wearing white, a symbol of purity and innocence, while Prospero looks like a religious figure. Caliban is seen carrying wood in the background and seems to be looking at the two with longing. The staff Prospero is carrying resembles both the Staff of Asclepius (a single snake)and the Caduceus (the wings). Both symbols represents medicine and healing, which could point to Prospero's mission of "healing" his image of dukedom or represent something within Rimmer himself.

Hablot K. Browne, Charles Dickens’ main illustrator for 23 years, illustrated Ferdinand and Miranda in an 1872 color edition of Shakespeare’s plays published by actor and manager Samuel Phelps. Several sprites appear in this illustration and are reminiscent of the spirits that make up the island in this very production.

John William Waterhouse primarily painted women and drew inspiration from authors like Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Ovid. He painted Ophelia numerous times and painted two iterations of Miranda; one in 1875 and one in 1916.

Miranda (1875) depicts calm seas and a peaceful Miranda. Perhaps she doesn't foresee the violent waters that are to come; or perhaps the tempest has already passed and she inwardly contends with what she's just witnessed.

Miranda (1916) depicts violent waves and a ship in the midst of the tempest. Miranda gazes out at it with her hand on her chest, as if pained by the sight, and her face suggests quiet reservation.

Waterhouse's two depictions of Miranda points to the vital aspect of humanity within the art of adaptation. The vast difference between the two paintings was likely achieved through a change in perspective, further life experience, and developed artistry.

Literature

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (2016) is about a disgraced theatre director bent on taking revenge on the colleague who betrayed him. He finds a position at a prison teaching inmates Shakespeare and begins his plot for revenge. The chapter titles reference scenes within the script and the plot follows closely with the plot of The Tempest.

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (1896) tells the story of Edward Prendick, a shipwreck survivor, stranded on an island ruled by a powerful figure, mad scientist Dr. Moreau. Here is a great resource for more island-based Tempest retellings: 5 Great Island Books That Reimagine The Tempest

Film

The 1908 silent film directed by Percy Stow is 12 minutes long. It was the second time The Tempest had been adapted for the screen.

BBC's The Tempest (1980) is a direct film adaptation infused with the spirit and language of The Tempest.

The Tempest (1998) directed by Jack Bender follows Gideon Prosper, a Southern slave-owner forced off his plantation by his brother immediately before the Civil War. He works to protect his daughter and help the Union with magic he learns from a slave. This post-colonial adaptation is an important legacy of the play, as Caliban is often portrayed to be an enslaved Native or African American.

Stage

A Tempest by Aimé Césaire is a postcolonial retelling of The Tempest. It draws inspiration from Caribbean society, the African-American experience, and African mythology. A full archived translation is linked in the image.

The Tempest is an opera by Thomas Adès. It premiered at the Royal Opera House in London in 2004 and staged in the US at the Santa Fe Opera in 2006. New York's Metropolitan Opera produced it in 2012 and won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Return to the Forbidden Planet is a jukebox musical based on Forbidden Planet and The Tempest. It premiered in London in the 1980s and the role of the narrator has been played by Neil deGrasse Tyson. It features rock and roll classics from the 1950s and 60s and quotes from several of Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare's The Tempest evolves alongside the artists who encounter it. Like the beating heart of the island in our production, an adaptation pulsates with the fervor of a million humans feeling a million different things. The art of adaptation is for anyone seeking to make sense of these feelings and create something that will make an impact on the world around them.

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