The Tempest at Maynardville Open-Air Festival 2025

When: January 31 until March 8, 2025
Where:
Maynardville Park, Piers Rd, Wynberg, Cape Town, 7800
Director: Sylvaine Strike – scroll down for cast and creative credits
Tickets: R220- R380
Bookings: Quicket  
Direct booking link: http://bit.ly/Waves2025  

Assistance for patrons with hearing challenges:

A hearing loop is available for the entire Maynardville season. Tune in via hearing aids. There will be a DASL (Artistic Sign Language) interpreted performance of The Tempest, on February 19. Deaf scholars under the age of 18 are invited to attend the Tempest on February 19, at no cost. There are discounted tickets for Deaf patrons – at R150 per ticket. To book, e-mail boxoffice@maynardville.co.za or send a WhatsApp at 069 792 6020– ie these offerings are not available through Quicket.

Full season details:

The season is titled Waves of Wonder. Maynardville is on January 22 to March 8, 2025
Website with programme: www.maynardville.co.za 
Info: 069 792 6020 (10h00-16h00 daily) or leave a WhatsApp to get a response 


“It’s a story about forgiveness but ultimately about turning personal tragedy into magic which is I think something we can all learn from…,” muses Sylvaine Strike who is directing Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Maynardville Open-Air Theatre 2025 in Cape Town. The production is on from January 31 until March 8, 2025. This article includes comments from an interview conducted with Strike and comments made during a media briefing, where we saw two scenes of The Tempest, during a rehearsal at Artscape.

Those of us in the rehearsal room were treated to glimpses of what looks to be a magical and epic Tempest in the park at Maynardville, with inspired theatrical choices which veer away from traditional design picks for The Tempest. For instance, don’t expect billowing silk to evoke the storm (Tempest). It is a surprise. It makes for a powerful and visceral start to the play. In conceptualising the production, Strike and designer Niall Griffin (set and costumes) worked with the elements of earth, wind, fire, water and this is threaded through in the set (a black slate raked platform) and costumes. For instance Prospera’s outfit has been constructed from the sails from when she was cast away. Miranda’s costume looks like it has been hewn from sea foam. The costumes look exquisite.

Strike has cast the role of Prospero (as in Shakespeare’s text) as a woman – Prospera- played by Antoinette Kellermann. Strike: “Maynardville (VR Theatrical) approached me and asked me which Shakespeare I would like to do. I decided to do the Tempest, because Maynardville had just done Romeo and Juliet and a Midsummers Night’s Dream, I thought that the Tempest was the perfect mix of comedy and tragedy. The only one to play Prospero- Prospera in this case – was Antoinette Kellermann. The main reason for making Prospero into Prospero is that I associate magic with feminine energy and I couldn’t un-see a female in that role. I think that the role of a sorceresses, the role of a mother, instead of a father is more interesting and certainly a mother who was exiled from her dukedom because her brother felt intimidated by her power and ability to work with magic and her involvement with her art. Antoinette Kellermann is also androgynous which is a wonderful thing – although she identifies as female, she has a level of masculinity to her which delves into both the realms of feminine and masculine energy which is right for Prospera because she is both mother and father to her daughter Miranda.  I worked with Antoinette once before, in Endgame. I have always wanted to work with her again so it is a gift to have her as our lead and she sets the bar so high.”

Where is the production set – a specific place like Africa – or could it be anywhere? Strike: “My production is set on an enchanted island, as prescribed by Shakespeare. It is non-specific to any place we know. All we know is that it is an enchanted island; illusionary and magical. I am steering away from anything that is going to make it look like a colonial exploration because Shakespeare does that already. No matter where one is, when somebody takes possession of another person or enslaves another person then one is perpetuating the master and slave relationship. I don’t think we need to have it explicitly shown to us. We can understand that this can happen anywhere in a place of fantasy or a place that we know, such as Africa, as you mentioned.”

What about accent in this enchanted place? Strike: “In terms of accent, everyone is using their own speaking voice. I think that it is the most honest – and Shakespeare needs to be delivered in a robust and muscular way so a lot of my actors and the young actors in particular are having coaching with inimitable Robyn Scott who is a dear, dear friend of mine and an amazing vocal coach and she is great with Shakespeare. We had Dorothy Anne Gould do a two hour workshop with my whole cast. So, ja, they have everything on their side to attack the language. It is going to make them feel that they have understood it, that they have the upper hand on it as it is not easy to deliver Shakespeare and still be able to remain truthful and in touch. Unless one really gets to the bare bones of the language.”

The following are extracts from the rehearsal/media briefing:

Set in real time in a place which had not yet been inhabited by people

Sylvaine Strike: “… It is an imaginary place where Prospera and her little girl wash up and what could that look like. It was important to us to imagine a place which had not yet been inhabited by people such as Prospera and her daughter. It was inhabited by its indigenous creatures. The Tempest is a play which works on the natural world. It’s the shortest in terms of time span in Shakespeare’s plays. It is the only one which is set in real time… it happens within three hours of the ship wreck …Things get resolved … we get a sense of the natural world being in charge … we work with the elements of earth, wind, fire, water. Those are the departure points for Niall (Niall Griffin –set and costumes) and I … “

How to make a storm, finding magic out of darkness

Sylvaine Strike: “…There is a lot of clowning in the Tempest. There is also a lot of romance, villainy, tragedy. These elements come together so beautifully…With so much going on in the world, it is time where we can do with ‘magic’. We need to see light as opposed to darkness.  In the workshop, we looked at – how do we make a storm, how do we make someone invisible …”

Original score and soundtrack underscores the elements in the production and Maynardville as a music playground

Wessel Odendaal (original sound and soundtrack) spoke about the process that they had working with the elements. “Sylvaine asked me to create four of two minute music pieces – signalling the different elements – we played with that in the workshop process – what does air sound like, what does earth feel like”. The sound playbook is vast at Maynardville which is a “music playground”. He added: “Think of the birds and beetles, fireflies, the leaves rustling, the wind. I cannot think of a better play that this venue can host. It is so unpredictable – with the weather – heavy winds some days …it really is a tempest. You never know what you are going to get. The park itself is a new character in this piece which I think makes the aural experience extremely exciting …”

Clowning around in a workshop for The Tempest, Maynardville 2025. Len-Barry Simons on left (a Spirit), Antoinette Kellermann in middle and Daniel Lasker (Ariel) on right. Pic supplied.
The Tempest at Maynardville 2025

Director: Sylvaine Strike
Cast: Antoinette Kellermann (Prospera), Albert Pretorius (Caliban), Jane de Wet (Miranda), Daniel Lasker (Ariel), Brent Palmer (King Alonso), Jefferson Lan (Ferdinand), David Viviers (Antonio/Stephano), Tankiso Mamabolo (Sebastian/Trinculo), Siya Mayola (Gonzalo/Boatswain) and Len-Barry Simons, Naoline Quinzin and Lungile Lallie as the Spirits

Design (set and costumes): Niall Griffin
Lighting design: Oliver Hauser
Original score and soundtrack: Wessel Odendaal
Sound design: David Classen  
Producer: VR Theatrical

✳Featured image: In rehearsal, Sylvaine Strike, director of The Tempest at Maynardville Open-Air Festival 2025. Pic supplied.