Trevor Nunn has cast stage and screen actor Ralph Fiennes as Prospero in his new production of The Tempest.
The play will run as part of Nunn’s first season as artistic director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which launched with his acclaimed new production of Terence Rattigan’s Flare Path starring Sienna Miller, Sheridan Smith and James Purefoy.
The Tempest will run from 27 August 2011 for ten weeks. Preceding this will be a transfer of the Chichester Festival Theatre’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (16 June – 20 August 2011), also directed by Nunn. Tom Stoppard’s play will feature two of the stars of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys – Samuel Barnett, who stars in sitcom Beautiful People, and Jamie Parker (Valkyrie), along with stage and screen actor Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) as the Player King.
Fiennes was last seen on the London stage in 2008 in Oedipus at the National Theatre. His other stage credits include Hamlet at the Hackney Empire and on Broadway and Julius Caesar at the Barbican. His extensive film work includes starring and directing Coriolanus, Oscar nominations for The English Patient and Schindler’s List, and BAFTA nominations for The Constant Gardener and The End of the Affair. He also plays Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise and will shortly start filming the new James Bond movie, directed by Sam Mendes.
TICKETS
Book tickets to The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Haymarket starring Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes: Stage Timeline
- 1985: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ring Round The Moon at the Open Air Theatre
- 1986: Night and Day and See How They Run at Theatr Clwyd; Me Mam Sez, Don Quixote and Cloud Nine at the Oldham Coliseum; Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Open Air Theatre
- 1987-1988: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Fathers and Sons and Ting Tang Mine at the National Theatre
- 1988 – 1991: The Plantagenets, Much Ado about Nothing, King John, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Playing with Trains, Troilus and Cressida, King Lear and Love’s Labour’s Lost at the RSC
- 1995: Hamlet at the Hackney Empire and on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award
- 1997: Ivanov at the Almeida
- 2000: Coriolanus and Richard II at the Gainsborough Film Studios and in New York
- 2001: The Play What I Wrote at the Wyndham’s Theatre
- 2003: Brand at the RSC; The Talking Cure at the National Theatre
- 2005: Julius Caesar at the Barbican
- 2006: Faith Healer at the Gate Theatre Dublin and Broadway
- 2007: First Love at the Sydney Festival
- 2008: Oedipus at the National Theatre; God of Carnage at the Gielgud Theatre
I’ve just seen the tempest an hour ago and I say I liked it very much. Must agree with Roberts when he talks about the nymphs..but all the other were good in their characters. I missed some lines, but I never missed the energy.
So, what I can’t help saying, most of all, is thank Prospero!
We were quite impressed with the visual effects and the acrobatic performances were worthy of a Vegas spectacle… That Ralph Fiennes is a seasoned stage actor well versed in Shakespeare is evident…
So is this tempest in a teapot worth watching? Let’s just say we’re glad we’ve seen Ralph Fiennes and Trevor Nunn’s take on one of Shakespeare’s last plays. If you fancy the idea of a trippy Ten Commandments cum Cirque du Soleil, then by all means go and see this show!
Read full review
Just saw THE TEMPEST with Fiennes.
One word to describe it: DULL!
It’s like the actors were instructed to take as many breaks between words as possible, the thing goes on for ever.
The only funny part is when one of the nymphs recites her lines in an incomprehensible Polish accent. WTF?
Talking about nymphs- where did they get them from? Central casting for Fellini movies? Such a mismatched pride of bodies should not be unleashed in tight outfits on any post-dinner audience.
What is it with all the GODSPELL meets ANGELS IN AMERICA musical effects numbers? Horribly camp, irrelevant and tedious.
The actors themselves seem bored when they come on stage, there is no energy, dynamism, purpose…
This is the second disaster I have seen by Nunn of late. Talk about losing your mojo!
About a dozen seats vacated in front of me after the interval. Guess the sentiment was shared.
Hey!
Ralph Fiennes fans would like to view his play from Los Angeles America.
Youtube poor quality is ok. When are you going to sell tickets for internet viewing?