The Tempest
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Arlee Olson
Open Auditions: October 2nd and 3rd 6:30pm - 9:00 pm; callbacks October 4th
Rehearsal Timeframe: October 16th - January 18th
Evening Performances (7:30pm): January 19, 20, 26, and 27
Matinee Performances (2:30pm): January 21 & 28
The Majestic Theatre (a division of the City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation department) is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to creating a safe place for actors of all backgrounds to explore their craft. We are particularly eager to work with artists of color and other artists from marginalized communities. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. The Majestic Theatre staff and volunteers do not discriminate on the basis of age, national origin, race, gender, ethnic background, ability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or any protected class.
Auditions will be held in person at the Majestic Theatre. Please download and fill out our audition form located at tinyurl.com/MTAuditionForm and bring it with you to the audition. If you can’t, forms will be available at the audition.
A headshot will be requested to be posted with the cast list.
SHOW SYNOPSIS
The Tempest is:
– a fantasy about magic and spirits,
– a survival story about being shipwrecked on an uncharted island,
– A drama about a dysfunctional family, and political intrigue,
– A comedy that ridicules all of the above.
This beloved Shakespearean classic has a little bit of everything: love, tragedy, revenge, drunken butlers, airy spirits, shipwreck, and wizardry. Prospero, a practitioner of the magical arts, and his young daughter Miranda are betrayed and stranded on an uncharted island, populated by a single islander, Caliban, and many spirits who delight in creating mischief. Through his wizardry, Prospero engineers a tempest, and a shipwreck which gives him the opportunity to exact revenge against those who wronged him. The play forces the characters and the audience to confront questions about redemption, forgiveness, reparations, and the power of love as a force for regeneration.
FROM THE DIRECTOR Arlee Olson
This production will bring the island to life with music, dance, and the kind of magic that you only find in the theater. I’m looking for actors, dancers and a few singers who are interested in exploring this admittedly problematic text. Performers of any age, gender, race, or ability are invited to audition; any casting preferences are specified in the character descriptions below. This Tempest will be set in a world where a woman can be anything from a Duke to a butler, to a sailor, so I will not necessarily be sticking with character genders assigned by Shakespeare. Pronouns will be adjusted in the script after actors are cast. Age ranges for characters are the age of the characters themselves; actors of other ages may be cast in those roles. We will be casting up to 29 performers.
PREPARATION NOTES
Auditions will be held in person at the Majestic Theatre. You do NOT need to prepare a monologue. Wear comfortable clothes to audition. Be ready to move (within your comfortable ability to do so), collaborate with others, and make bold choices. A headshot will be requested to be posted with the cast list.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
CHACTERS WHO INHABIT THE ISLAND
PROSPERO
Character Age: 45-65
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: On stage a lot. Must be able to climb stairs to the platform above the cave.
Line burden: Heavy
Character: A magician, and the rightful ruler of Milan, whose title and property have been seized by a traitorous sibling. Prospero has found refuge on an unchartered island and has lived there (along with daughter Miranda) for 15 years, surviving by magically enslaving the spirits of the island. Prospero is a human in need of redemption.
MIRANDA
Character Age: 18
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Character Gender: Female
Desired Actor Gender: Female
Ability/movement: Must be able to climb stairs to the platform above her cave. Some romantic scenes with Ferdinand. Any intimacy will be carefully choreographed.
Line Burden: Medium
Character: Prospero’s child. After living on the island since the age of 3, she is innocent, credulous, kind, empathetic, and wants to believe the best in people.
ARIEL(s)
Character Age: ageless
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Spirit
Desired Actor Gender: I’m looking for one male presenting actor, and one female presenting actor to play the character at the same time.
Ability/movement: comfortable with movement and dance. Must be able to run, leap, climb stairs, jump onto and off platforms. At least one of the Ariel actors should be comfortable singing a solo.
Line burden: Medium
Character: Ariel is a spirit of the island, and therefore beyond age and gender. I would like to cast two Ariels: one male presenting, one female presenting, to play the one part at the same time. I envision two graceful humans with similar body types who work well together, moving sometimes together, sometimes separately, but always as the same unique spirit. Some lines will be spoken in unison, some will be spoken individually.
SPIRITS (looking for ten dancers)
Character age: all
Character Race: Any – looking for as much diversity as possible
Character Ethnicity: Spirit
Desired Actor Gender: Any – looking for as much diversity as possible
Ability/movement: Dance!
Line burden: none
Character: The spirits are the indigenous inhabitants of the island. Prospero, the magician, is tapping into their magic, and, by doing so, slowly destroying them, and the island. There are four large group dances, and also opportunities for individual spirits to watch the proceedings, from various perches onstage, and to enact the gradual destruction of the island.
Line burden: none
IRIS, CERES, & JUNO (island spirits with beautiful singing voices)
Character age: any
Character race: any
Character ethnicity: Spirit
Character gender: any
Ability/movement: These 3 might be chosen from the dancers, or they might double with the Boatswain and/or sailor, or they might be separate actors who come on only to sing solos at the wedding ceremony. As Iris, Ceres & Juno, they only need to sing. Any level of movement is fine.
CALIBAN
Character Age: 20 - 30
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: slight preference for male
Line burden: Medium
Ability/movement: Comfortable with physical comedy, and able to carry firewood. Down on the floor at times.
Character: The single human inhabitant of the island when Prospero and Miranda arrive, Caliban is an individual with a different culture and a different language, but a monster in the eyes of the other characters, a sad victim of their narrowmindedness, not unlike the narrowmindedness of many of our own contemporaries who see the “other” as someone to use, exploit, marginalize – indeed, dehumanize. I would like to show Caliban as attractive, with some single physical difference from the other actors. Maybe Caliban is very tall, or maybe the difference is simply hair, makeup, or costume. The audience should NEVER see Caliban as a monster. Caliban joins Stephano and Trinculo in drunken physical shenanigans.
THE SHIPWRECKED COURT
ALONSO
Character Age: 40-65
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Character Gender: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Line burden: Medium
Character: The ruler of Naples. Spends much of the play being sad, believing their child has died in the storm.
ANTONIO
Character Age: 30-45
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Line burden: Medium
Character: Prospero’s traitorous younger sibling who is now ruler of Milan. Antonio is powerful, and seductive, in the way that power is seductive. After nearly dying in the storm that strands them on the uncharted island, Antonio, rather than figuring out how to survive, or escape, convinces Sebastian to murder their own sibling, Alonso, the Ruler of Naples.
SEBASTIAN
Character Age: 35-60
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Character Gender: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Any
Line burden: Medium
Character: Alonso’s sibling. Easily led into planning Alonso’s murder. Not terribly bright.
GONZALO
Character Age: 65 +
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Line burden: Medium
Ability/movement: This character should read as old. A wheelchair or cane would be great, but only if the actor actually uses such a mobility aid.
Character: A wise, elderly counselor. Fifteen years ago, Gonzalo saved Prospero and Miranda’s lives when they were exiled. Now, Gonzalo tries to talk sense to the rest of the court, tries to keep their spirits up. Gonzalo, though a bit overly talkative, is the smartest member of the court and we worry about what might happen to everyone if this adventure proves too much for Gonzalo’s health.
FRANCISCO AND ADRIAN
Character Age: 18+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Active
Line Burden: very light
Character: Part of Alonso’s court. They say very little, but must be present, alert, and physically active whenever the court is onstage. I’m looking for two inventive actors willing to explore the script and create texture for the story.
FERDINAND
Character Age: 18-25
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Male
Ability/movement: Some light romance with Miranda. Intimacy will be carefully choreographed. Must be able to carry firewood.
Character: Son of Alonso, ruler of Naples. During the storm, he is separated from the rest of the court, meets Miranda, and falls in love with her.
THE SHIPWRECKED COMEDIANS
STEPHANO
Character Age: 21+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Character Gender: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Very active. Must be comfortable with crawling, climbing, scuffling, and general physical shenanigans.
Character: Alonso’s butler. Arrives on the island drunk, continues to drink, and quickly becomes involved in a plot to murder Prospero.
TRINCULO
Character Age: 21+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Character Gender: Any
Desired Actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Very active. Must be comfortable with crawling, climbing, scuffling, and general physical shenanigans.
Character: Alonso’s jester. When Stefano arrives with wine, Trinculo joins in the drinking, drinks to excess, then agrees to a plot to murder Prospero.
THE SAILORS
BOATSWAIN
Character age: 21+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Character Gender: Any
Desired actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Agile
Line burden: light
Character: The highest ranking sailor in the play. Only in the first and last scene. Could possibly double with Juno, Ceres or Iris, or could be an actor who just wants a small role.
SAILOR
Character age: 21+
Character Race: Any
Character Ethnicity: Any
Desired actor Gender: Any
Ability/movement: Agile
Line burden: light
Character: eponymous. Only in the first and last scene. Could possibly double with Juno, Ceres or Iris, or could be an actor who just wants a small role.
SIDES
SIDE 1 – Prospero and Ariel(s) (3 actors)
The colors indicate which Ariel is speaking. Red is Ariel A, blue is Ariel B, and purple text is to be spoken together.
PROSPERO
Come away, servant; come! I am ready now.
Approach, my Ariel. Come.
Enter ARIEL(s)
ARIEL
All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curled clouds. To thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.
PROSPERO
Hast thou, spirit,
Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
ARIEL
To every article.
I boarded the King's ship; now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement. Sometime I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,
Then meet and join Jove's lightning. The fire and cracks
Of sulphureous roaring the most mighty Neptune
Seem to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble,
Yea, his dread trident shake.
PROSPERO
My brave spirit!
Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?
ARIEL
Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad, and played
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me; the King's son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring-then like reeds, not hair-
Was the first man that leapt; cried 'Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here.'
PROSPERO
Why, that's my spirit!
But was not this nigh shore?
ARIEL
Close by, my master.
PROSPERO
But are they, Ariel, safe?
ARIEL
Not a hair perish'd;
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before; and, as thou bad'st me,
In troops I have dispers’d them 'bout the isle.
The King's son have I landed by himself,
Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
His arms in this sad knot.
SIDE 2 -- Prospero & Ariel(s). (3 actors)
The colors indicate which Ariel is speaking. Red is Ariel A, blue is Ariel B, and purple text is to be spoken together.
PROSPERO
How now, moody?
What is't thou canst demand?
ARIEL
My liberty.
PROSPERO
Before the time be out? No more!
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, serv'd
Without or grudge or grumblings. Thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.
PROSPERO
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?
ARIEL
No.
PROSPERO
Thou dost; and think'st it much to tread the ooze
Of the salt deep,
To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
To do me business in the veins o' th' earth
When it is baked with frost.
ARIEL
I do not, sir.
PROSPERO
Thou liest, malignant thing. Hast thou forgot
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
Was grown into a hoop? Hast thou forgot her?
Speak; tell me.
ARIEL
No, sir.
PROSPERO
Thou hast. I must
Once in a month recount what thou hast been,
Which thou forget'st. This dammed witch, Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terrible
From Argier thou know'st was banished.
Is not this true?
ARIEL
Ay, sir.
PROSPERO
This blue-ey'd hag was hither brought with child,
And here was left by th'sailors. Thou, my slave,
As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant.
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorred commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
By help of her more potent ministers,
And in her most unmitigable rage,
Into a cloven pine; within which rift
Imprisoned thou didst painfully remain
A dozen years; within which space she died,
And left thee there, where thou didst vent thy groans
As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island-
Save for the son that she did litter here,
A freckled whelp, hag-born-not honored with
A human shape.
ARIEL
Yes, Caliban her child.
PROSPERO
Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban
Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st
What torment I did find thee in, thy groans
Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts
Of ever-angry bears; it was a torment
To lay upon the dammed, which Sycorax
Could not again undo. It was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine and let thee out.
ARIEL
I thank thee, master.
PROSPERO
If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till
Thou hast howled away twelve winters.
ARIEL
Pardon, master;
I will be correspondent to command,
And do my spriting gently.
PROSPERO
Do so; and after two days
I will discharge thee.
ARIEL
That's my noble master!
What shall I do? Say what. What shall I do?
SIDE 3 – Ariel(s) (2 actors)
The colors indicate which Ariel is speaking. Red is Ariel A, blue is Ariel B, and purple text is to be spoken together.
ARIEL
You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
The never-surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you;-you 'mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
[Alonso, Sebastian etc., draw their swords]
ARIEL
You fools! I and my fellows
Are ministers of Fate; the elements
Of whom your swords are tempered may as well
Wound the loud winds as diminish
One dowle that's in my plume; my fellow-ministers
Are like invulnerable.
Your swords are now too massy for your strengths
And will not be uplifted. But remember-
For that's my business to you-that you three
From Milan did supplant good Prospero;
Exposed unto the sea,
He, and his innocent child; for which foul deed
The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have
Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me
Lingering perdition, worse than any death
SIDE 4 – PROSPERO (one actor)
PROSPERO
Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune-
Weak masters though ye be-I have be-dimm'd
The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azure vault
Set roaring war. To the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt
[and the magical moment is interrupted as Ariel(s) enter, leading Alonso, with Gonzalo; Sebastian and Antonio all gesturing frantically, attended by Adrian and Francisco. Lights and sound abruptly return to normal. They all enter the circle which Prospero has made, and there stand charmed.]
Holy Gonzalo, honorable man,
The charm dissolves apace.
O good Gonzalo, my true preserver.
Most cruelly didst thou, Alonso, use me and my daughter.
Thy brother was a furtherer in the act.
Thou art pinched for't now, Sebastian. Flesh and blood,
You, brother mine, that entertained ambition,
Who, with Sebastian-
Would here have killed your king. I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art. Their understanding
Begins to swell. Not one of them.
That yet looks on me or would know me.
My dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee;
But yet thou shalt have freedom. So, so, so.
To the King's ship, invisible as thou art;
There shalt thou find the boatswain.
Being awake, enforce him to this place,
And presently, I prithee.
SIDE 5 – MIRANDA AND FERDINAND (2 ACTORS)
MIRANDA
Alas, now; pray you,
Work not so hard; I would the lightning had
Burnt up those logs that you are enjoined to pile!
Pray, set it down and rest you; When this burns
T’will weep for having wearied you. My father
Is hard at study; pray, now, rest yourself;
He's safe for these three hours.
FERDINAND
O most dear mistress,
The sun will set before I shall discharge
What I must strive to do.
MIRANDA
If you'll sit down, I'll bear your logs the while.
Pray give me that; I'll carry it to the pile.
FERDINAND
No, precious creature;
I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,
Than you should such dishonor undergo,
While I sit lazy by.
MIRANDA
It would become me
As well as it does you; and I should do it
With much more ease; for my good will is to it,
And yours it is against.
MIRANDA
You look wearily.
FERDINAND
No, noble mistress; 'tis fresh morning with me
When you are by at night. I do beseech you,
Chiefly that I might set it in my prayers,
What is your name?
MIRANDA
Miranda-- O my father,
I have broke your hest to say so!
FERDINAND
Admir'd Miranda! Full many a lady
I have eyed with best regard; and many a time
Th' harmony of their tongues hath into bondage
Brought my too diligent ear. For several virtues
Have I liked several women; but you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature's best!
MIRANDA
I do not know
One of my sex; no woman’s face remember,
Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seen
More that I may call men than you, good friend.
And my dear father. How features are abroad,
I am skilless of; but, by my modesty,
I would not wish
Any companion in the world but you;
But I prattle something too wildly,
And my father's precepts I therein do forget.
SIDE 6 – GONZALO, ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, ADRIAN (6 actors)
GONZALO
Beseech you, sir, be merry; you have cause,
So have we all, of joy; for our escape
Is much beyond our loss. Then wisely, good sir, weigh
Our sorrow with our comfort.
ALONSO
Prithee, peace.
SEBASTIAN
He receives comfort like cold porridge.
GONZALO
Therefore, my lord-
ANTONIO
Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue!
ALONSO
I prithee, spare.
GONZALO
Well, I have done; but yet-
SEBASTIAN
He will be talking.
ANTONIO
Which, of he or Adrian, for a good wager, first begins to crow?
SEBASTIAN
The old cock.
ANTONIO
The cock'rel.
SEBASTIAN
Done. The wager?
ANTONIO
A laughter.
ADRIAN
Though this island seem to be desert-
ANTONIO
Ha, ha, ha!
SEBASTIAN
So, you're paid.
ADRIAN
Uninhabitable, and almost inaccessible-
SEBASTIAN
Yet-
ADRIAN
Yet-
ANTONIO
He could not miss't.
ADRIAN
It must needs be of subtle, tender, and delicate temperance. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly.
SEBASTIAN
As if it had lungs, and rotten ones.
SIDE 7 – ANTONIO AND SEBASTIAN (2 actors)
ANTONIO
What might,
Worthy Sebastian? O, what might! No more!
And yet methinks I see it in thy face,
What thou shouldst be.
My strong imagination sees a crown
Dropping upon thy head.
SEBASTIAN
What, art thou waking?
ANTONIO
Do you not hear me speak?
SEBASTIAN
I do; and surely
It is a sleepy language, and thou speak'st
Out of thy sleep. What is it thou did’st say?
This is a strange repose, to be asleep
With eyes wide open. Standing, speaking, moving
And yet so fast asleep
ANTONIO
Noble Sebastian,
Thou let'st thy fortune sleep -- die rather.
SEBASTIAN
Thou dost snore distinctly; There's meaning in thy snores.
ANTONIO
I am more serious than my custom; you must be so too.
SEBASTIAN
Well, I am standing water.
ANTONIO
I'll teach you how to flow.
SEBASTIAN
Do so: to ebb,
Hereditary sloth instructs me.
ANTONIO
O, if you but knew --
SEBASTIAN
Prithee say on.
ANTONIO
Thus, sir:
Although this lord of weak remembrance,
Hath here almost persuaded the King his son's alive,
It is impossible that he's undrowned.
SEBASTIAN
I have no hope that he's undrowned.
ANTONIO
O, out of that 'no hope'
What great hope have you! Will you grant with me
That Ferdinand is drowned?
SEBASTIAN
He's gone.
ANTONIO
Then tell me Who's the next heir of Naples?
SEBASTIAN
Claribel.
ANTONIO
She that is Queen of Tunis; she that dwells
Ten leagues beyond man's life; she that from Naples
Can have no note, unless the sun were post,
The Man i' th' Moon's too slow.
SEBASTIAN
What stuff is this! How say you?
'Tis true, my brother's daughter's Queen of Tunis;
So is she heir of Naples; 'twixt which regions
There is some space.
ANTONIO
A space whose ev'ry cubit
Seems to cry out, “How shall that Claribel
Measure us back to Naples? Keep in Tunis,
And let Sebastian wake.” Say this were death
That now hath seized them; why, they were no worse
Than now they are. There be that can rule Naples
As well as he that sleeps; lords that can prate
As amply and unnecessarily
As this Gonzalo; O, that you bore
The mind that I do! What a sleep were this
For your advancement! Do you understand me?
SIDE 8 – TRINCULO (1 actor)
TRINCULO
Here's neither bush nor shrub to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing. I hear it sing i' th' wind. If it should thunder as it did before, I know not where to hide my head. Yond cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls. What have we here? A man or a fish? Dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell. A strange fish! Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Legg'd like a man, and his fins like arms! Warm, o' my troth! I do now let loose my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by thunderbolt. [Thunder] Alas the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabout. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.
SIDE 9 TRINCULO, STEPHANO, CALIBAN (3 actors)
STEPHANO
If thou beest Trinculo, come forth; I'll pull thee by the lesser legs; if any be Trinculo's legs, these are they. Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How camest thou to be the siege of this mooncalf. Can he vent Trinculos?
TRINCULO
I took him to be killed with a thunderstroke. But art thou not drowned, Stephano? I hope now thou are not drowned. Is the storm overblown? I hid me under the dead moon-calf's gaberdine for fear of the storm. And art thou living, Stephano? O Stephano, two Neapolitans scap'd!
STEPHANO
Prithee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.
CALIBAN
[Aside] These be fine things, an that's a brave god, and bears celestial liquor. I will kneel to him.
STEPHANO
How didst thou scape? How cam'st thou hither? Swear by this bottle how thou cam'st hither. I escap'd upon a butt of sack, which the sailors heaved o'erboard. By this bottle, which I made of the bark of a tree, with mine own hands, since I was cast ashore.
CALIBAN
I'll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject, for the liquor is not earthly.
STEPHANO
Here -- swear then how thou escap'dst.
TRINCULO
Swum ashore, man, like a duck. I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn. [drinks]. O Stephano, hast any more of this?
STEPHANO
The whole butt, man; my cellar is in a rock by th' seaside, where my wine is hid. How now, moon-calf! How does thine ague?
CALIBAN
Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven?
STEPHANO
Out o' th' moon, I do assure thee; I was the Man i' th' Moon.
CALIBAN
I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee. My mistress showed me thee, and thy dog and thy bush.
STEPHANO.
Come, kiss my foot and swear to that. I will furnish it anon with new contents. Swear.
[CALIBAN drinks]
TRINCULO
By this good light, this is a very shallow monster! I afeard of him! A very weak monster! The Man i' th' Moon! A most poor credulous monster!
CALIBAN
I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island; and will kiss thy foot. I prithee be my god.
TRINCULO
By this light, a most perfidious and drunken monster! When's god's asleep he'll rob his bottle.
CALIBAN
I'll kiss thy foot; I'll swear myself thy subject.
SIDE 10 – PROSPERO & CALIBAN (2 actors)
PROSPERO
Come forth, I say; there's other business for thee.
Come, thou tortoise! when? Thou poisonous slave,
Got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam, come forth!
Enter CALIBAN
CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! A south-west blow on ye
And blister you all o'er!
PROSPERO
For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; thou shalt be pinch'd
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
CALIBAN
This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st first,
Thou strok'st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night; and then I loved thee,
And showed thee all the qualities o' th' isle,
The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile.
Cursed be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' th' island.
PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child.
[Shadowed dumbshow or puppet projection behind Caliban & Prospero’s previous lines, depicting Miranda and Prospero sitting with Caliban, teaching him patiently. Caliban kissing Miranda’s hand, and Prospero freaking out – so the audience sees that “seeking to violate” Miranda’s “honor” was perfectly innocent. Lovel blue sky returns when sequence concludes]
CALIBAN
[Would she had loved me.
We] would have peopled all the isle with Calibans.
PROSPERO
Abhorred slave, we pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other. When thou didst not, Savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore, wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock.
CALIBAN
You taught me language, and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse.
SIDE 11 – IRIS, JUNO, CERES (3 actors)
This is part of the wedding blessing. These are three very small parts, but they are important. They are spirits who sing. I want to see enthusiasm and creativity. If you want to try for these parts, please come with ideas. I’m open to any kind of music. Put it to the tune of a sea shanty, or Klingon opera, or try a Lin Manuel Miranda style rap. Totally up to you. I’m looking for confidence and imagination. I’m expecting acapella for the audition, but we can work out something else for the show if you have a compelling inspiration.
IRIS (singing)
Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas
Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and peas;
Thy turfy mountains, the Queen o' th' sky,
Whose wat'ry arch and messenger am I,
Bids thee leave these, and with her sovereign grace,
Here on this grassplot, in this very place,
To come and sport. Her peacocks fly amain.
Approach, rich Ceres.
Enter CERES
CERES (singing)
Hail, many-colored messenger,
Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flowers
Diffusest honey drops, refreshing show'rs;
[And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown
My bosky acres and my unshrubbed down,
Rich scarf to my proud earth]
why hath thy Queen summoned me hither to this green?
IRIS
A contract of true love to celebrate,
And some donation freely to estate
On the blest lovers.
[JUNO alights]
CERES
Highest Queen of State,
Great Juno, comes; I know her by her gait.
JUNO
How does my bounteous sister? Go with me
To bless this twain.
JUNO (singing)
Honor, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.
SIDE 12 – MIRANDA AND PROSPERO (2 actors)
MIRANDA
If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,
Who had no doubt some noble creature in her,
Dashed all to pieces! Poor souls, they perished.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere
It should the good ship so have swallowed
And the fraughting souls within her.
PROSPERO.
Be collected;
No more amazement; tell your piteous heart
There's no harm done.
MIRANDA
O, woe the day!
PROSPERO
No harm.
I have done nothing but in care of thee,
Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
Art ignorant of what thou art, naught knowing
Of whence I am,
MIRANDA
More to know
Did never meddle with my thoughts.
PROSPERO
'Tis time
I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand,
And pluck my magic garment from me. So, [Takes off magic robe]
Lie there my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touched
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered that there is no soul-
No, not so much perdition as an hair
[Befallen] any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink.
Sit down, for thou must now know farther.
MIRANDA
You have oft
Begun to tell me what I am; but stopp'd,
And left me to a bootless inquisition,
Concluding 'Stay; not yet.'
PROSPERO
The hour's now come;
The very minute bids thee ope thine ear.
Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst; for then thou wast not
Out three years old.
MIRANDA
Certainly, sir, I can.
PROSPERO
By what? By any other house, or person?
Of anything the image, tell me, that
Hath kept with thy remembrance?
MIRANDA
'Tis far off,
And rather like a dream than an assurance
That my remembrance warrants. Had I not
Four, or five, women once, that tended me?
PROSPERO
Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it
That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
In the dark backward and abysm of time?
If thou rememb'rest aught, ere thou cam'st here,
How thou cam'st here thou mayst.
MIRANDA
But that I do not.
PROSPERO
Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duke of Milan, and
A prince of power.
MIRANDA
Sir, are not you my father?
PROSPERO
Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir
And princess no worse issued.
MIRANDA
O, the heavens!
What foul play had we that we came from thence?
Or blesséd was't we did?
PROSPERO
Both, both, my girl.
By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heaved thence;
But blessedly holp hither.
MIRANDA
O, my heart bleeds
To think o' th' [trouble I’ve] returned you to,
Which is from my remembrance. Please you, farther.
SIDE 13 – ARIEL(S) & FERDINAND (2 or 3 actors)
ARIEL’S SONG.
Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands;
Curtsied when you have and kiss’d,
The wild waves whist,
Foot it fleetly here and there,
And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
Hark, hark!
[Voices dispersedly – spirits who are watching: Bow-wow.]
The watch dogs bark.
[Voices dispersedly spirits who are watching: Bow-wow.]
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.
FERDINAND
Where should this music be? I’ th’ air or th’ earth?
It sounds no more; and sure it waits upon
Some god o’ th’ island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the King my father’s wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air; thence I have followed it,
Or it hath drawn me rather. But ‘tis gone.
No, it begins again.
ARIEL’S SONG continues
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
[Bells ring]
Hark! now I hear them-Ding-dong bell.
SIDE 14 – SEBASTIAN, GONZALO, ALONSO, ANTONIO (4 actors)
SEBASTIAN
You were kneeled to, and importuned otherwise
By all of us. We have lost your son,
I fear, forever. The fault's your own.
ALONSO
So is the dear'st o' th' loss.
GONZALO
My lord Sebastian,
The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness,
SEBASTIAN
Very well.
GONZALO
It is foul weather in us all, good sir,
When you are cloudy.
SEBASTIAN
Foul weather?
ANTONIO
Very foul.
GONZALO
Had I plantation of this isle, my lord-
ANTONIO
He'd sow 't with nettle-seed.
GONZALO
And were the king on't, what would I do?
SEBASTIAN
Scape being drunk for want of wine.
GONZALO
I' th' commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things;
Letters should not be known; riches, titles, poverty,
And use of service, none;
No occupation; all men idle, all;
SEBASTIAN
Yet he would be king on't.
ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.
GONZALO
All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavor. Treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth,
Of its own kind, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.
SEBASTIAN
No marrying 'mong his subjects?
ANTONIO
None, man; all idle;
GONZALO
I would with such perfection govern, sir,
T' excel the golden age.
SEBASTIAN
Save his Majesty!
ANTONIO
Long live Gonzalo!
GONZALO
And-do you mark me, sir?
ALONSO
Prithee, no more; thou dost talk nothing to me.
GONZALO
I did it to minister occasion to these, who have sensible and nimble lungs that they always use to laugh at nothing.
ANTONIO
'Twas you we laugh'd at.
GONZALO
Who, in this kind of merry fooling, am nothing to you; so you may continue, and laugh at nothing still.
SEBASTIEN
What a blow was there given!