Theatre News

The Tempest Goes Outdoors

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17 August 2009

From 27th to 29th August the children’s play area in North Marine Park, South Shields, will be the venue for a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the first professional production of Shakespeare to originate in South Tyneside for many years.

Co-produced by South Shields’ The Customs House and North East theatre company KG Productions, The Tempest has a cast drawn from some of the best actors in the North East. David Napthine takes on the role of Prospero, with Helen Embleton as Miranda, Therase Neve as Ariel and Dale Meeks as Caliban.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” said director Peter Lathan, “that this production has really excited the North East acting community and we really did have our pick of the region’s acting talent. We could easily have cast it twice over from those who auditioned.”

Young people from South Tyneside will also appear as dancers, singers and musicians who are the “spirits of the isle” who carry out Prospero’s commands.

“It’s very much a site-specific production,” Peter Lathan said. “It makes use of the features of this part of the park and, although it’s an outdoor production, it will be very intimate with the audience on two sides.”

Joining Peter Lathan in the creative team are Dora Frankel as choreographer and Paul Chambers as musical director. Jill Dellow is production manager and Chris Allen set builder and stage manager.

Tickets are priced at £10 and available from The Custom’s House box office on 0191 454 1234 or at www.thecustomshouse.co.uk