ABSTRACT
In the late summer/fall of 1988, four productions of The Tempest were on view virtually at the same time in England: Sir Peter Hall's at the National Theatre, with Michael Bryant as Prospero; Jonathan Miller's at the Old Vic, with Max von Sydow; Declan Donnellan's Cheek by Jowl company, with Timothy Walker; and Nicholas Hytner's for the RSC, with John Wood. A strategic technicality is the assignment of the speech Abhorred slave, which any print of goodness wilt not take to Prospero or Miranda. Editors used until modern times to assign the speech to Prospero, overriding the Folio. The male casting of Ariel has allowed a certain homoerotic tinge to the relationship, something no doubt present in the earliest performances of The Tempest. Michael Bryant's Prospero is an impious magician devoured with hatred for the usurpers who have fallen into his power. Caliban is the mutineer, Ariel the temporary loyalist who bids up an ever-increasing price for his services.
