go here to a single playlist of all the Shakespeare for SATS 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CD0A18B0C22EF0A4
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from a lecture on Shakespeare, 1811:
Is there anything in nature from which Shakespeare caught the idea of this delicate and delightful being, with such childlike simplicity, yet with such preternatural powers? He is neither born of heaven, nor of earth; but, as it were, between both, like a May blossom kept suspended in air by the fanning breeze, which prevent it from falling to the ground, and only finally, and by compulsion, touching earth.
This reluctance of the sylph to be under the command even of Prospero is kept up throughout the whole play, and in the exercise of his admirable judgement Shakespeare has availed himself of it in order to give Ariel an interest in the event, looking forward to that moment when he was to gain his last and only reward--simple and eternal liberty.
Warren Clarke ... Caliban
Andrew Sachs ... Trinculo
Nigel Hawthorne ... Stephano
David Dixon ... Ariel
Directed by John Gorrie
Caliban, like some Satan, riles against Prospero, urges the humans to rebel and kill to take the books that control him and his world--many have detected parallels between this Satan (Hebrew for "accuser") and the books of the Bible with this Master/God/Prospero.
Andrew Sachs escaped Nazi Germany with his family when very young, and English is his second language. He most famously appeared as the hapless Spanish waiter Manuel in "Fawlty Towers". He has remained very active in the business, with numerous acting roles and voice work.
as part of the "Fawlty Towers" Shakespeare trilogy, go here to see Prunella Scales as Mistress Page in "The Merry Wives of Windsor":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD79V3ZZtYA
and here to see John Cleese as Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NnhBNq6h8
On the character of Caliban, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from a lecture on Shakespeare, 1811:
The character of Caliban is wonderfully conceived: he is a sort of creature of the earth, partaking of the qualities of the brute, and distinguished from them in two ways: 1. By having mere understanding without moral reason; 2. By not having the instincts which belong to mere animals.- Still Caliban is a noble being: a man in the sense of the imagination, all the images he utters are drawn from nature, and are all highly poetical; they fit in with the images of Ariel: Caliban gives you images from the Earth- Ariel images from the air. Caliban talks of the difficulty of finding fresh water, the situation of Morasses, and other circumstances which the brute instinct not possessing reason could comprehend. No mean image is brought forward, and no mean passion, but animal passions, and the sense of repugnance at being commanded.
The Tempest, Act 3 Scene 2 (SATS 2008)
Ariel bates Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban
'Tell not me! When the butt is out, we will drink water-'
to
'Wilt come ? I'll follow, Stephano'
(Less)
Video details
