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London premiere of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance's We Caliban
A danced reimagining of The Tempest through the eyes of Prospero’s ‘monster’ at Sadler’s Wells East from Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 April
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Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, We Caliban, dancers Gabriel Ciulli + Oliver Mahar, photo Foteini Christofilopoulou
Choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, one of the most distinctive forces in UK dance, brings her latest dance work We Caliban to Sadler’s Wells East for its London premiere from 21 to 23 April.
Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest, a tale of power lost and regained, is the starting point for this powerfully dramatic and contemporary dance reading.
Jeyasingh reframes the story through the eyes of Caliban, a minor character in the play. His life is changed forever when the power games of distant lands and unknown peoples are played out on his own remote island, making him a ‘monstrous’ servant to a new master, Prospero, and his young daughter, Miranda. Violence is never far from Caliban - whether it is meted out to him or the way he resists his captivity and forced labour.
These familiar characters emerge from an ensemble cast who set the scene and convey emotion, including the traumas of colonisation. Mythic and antique yet all too contemporary, We Caliban is visceral and potent dance theatre, drawing on present-day parallels as well as the personal experiences of Jeyasingh and her co-dramaturg Uzma Hameed.
The piece opens with Will Duke’s video projections of tropical flora and fauna locating the action on Caliban’s island. Later, as Prospero’s party arrives, come images of the turbulent sea and shipwreck, archival maps and travel literature from Shakespeare's time, excerpts of Christopher Columbus’s diary, and paintings of first meetings with native Americans.
The commissioned soundtrack from French composer Thierry Pécou (with whom Jeyasingh collaborated in 2022 for Opera du Rhin’s Until the Lions) includes readings of edicts from Elizabeth I praising Sir Walter Raleigh and his domination of other lands. Lighting design is by Floriaan Ganzevoort with set and costume design by Mayou Trikerioti.
The cast is Tanisha Addicott, Gabriel Ciulli, George Gregory, Oliver Mahar, Harry Ondrak-Wright as Prospero, Tabitha O'Sullivan, Raul Reinoso Acanda as Caliban and Holly Vallis as Miranda.