Press reviews of 'The Tempest'
Full reviews contain spoilery images. Reviews will be added to this post as they are published.
Daily Mail Online (2/5 stars): "Colin ‘Merlin’ Morgan gives a decidedly ‘dainty Ariel’ - think Star Trek Spock’s camp nephew. I have not heard ‘where the bee sucks’ sung worse. Director James Herrin should insist he takes music lessons. [...] Verdict: No magic."
London Evening Standard (3 stars): "Colin Morgan, so familiar from the BBC’s Merlin, is poised and understated as Prospero’s servant Ariel. The programme includes a credit for a “parkour trainer” - Chris Rowat - and it doesn’t take long to work out who the beneficiary has been as Morgan swings from the scenery with acrobatic precision. Yet he also has moments of pale, ethereal stillness. [...] This is a skilfully acted account of The Tempest, but not a spellbindingly beautiful one."
Londonist (star rating not used): "Colin Morgan (of Merlin fame) plays his Ariel as a childlike naïf, navigating the set with parkour skills to represent his light otherworldliness."
LondonTheatre.co.uk (4.5/5 stars): "Colin Morgan is an efficient, alien-like, frock-wearing Ariel. [...] with two very fine performances from Roger Allam and James Garnon, and pretty-much seamless and inventive direction, there is much to admire and a great deal of fun to be had too."
Official London Theatre (star rating not used): "Colin Morgan - reclaiming the enchanting powers he exercised in BBC series Merlin - is enthralling and ethereal as Prospero’s servant Ariel, elegantly swinging off staircases and cartwheeling across the vast stage under the command of his master. Donning an exquisite costume formed of delicate pale wisps, the obedient sprite couldn’t differ more from James Garnon’s hideous Caliban[.]"
Radio Times (star rating not used): "The Merlin star's nimble acrobatics and ethereal portrayal of Ariel neatly compliments the raging presence of Allam's sorcerer Prospero
Watching Shakespeare being performed at the Globe Theatre is a treat without the magnificent talents of Roger Allam (Endeavour, The Thick of It) and the nimble acrobatics of his co-star, Colin Morgan (Merlin), but add them to the equation and you have a magical experience equal to the mythical powers of Prospero himself.
[...] Prospero's playful spirit Ariel (Morgan) is never far from his side, carrying out his bidding and manipulating his defenceless subjects. For a bulky man, Morgan’s nymph-like movements are impressively acrobatic, as he silently gallops, creeps, swings, shimmies - and even cartwheels - across the stage with a camp, fidgety temperament that captures the ethereal essence of the production - not a million miles away from the eponymous hero he made his name playing in Merlin.
[...] All in all, a simplisitc approach to Shakespeare's bewitching yarn that relies on some masterful acting, especially from Allam, Morgan and James, to add colour to Shakespeare's much-loved verse."
The Arts Desk (4/5 stars): "Colin Morgan’s Ariel (pictured right) benefits from a rather overtly-pointed emotional subplot involving Prospero and their relationship, and while possessed of excellent comic timing his presence does rather dilute the more central emotional dramas. [...] But intellectually there isn’t quite enough here to satisfy, and if you stop smiling for long enough to notice then the gorgeous illusion does flicker slightly."
The Guardian (4/5 stars): "[Herrin] gets good performances from Jessie Buckley and Joshua James as the enraptured lovers, Colin Morgan as a nimble Ariel and James Garnon as a Caliban who burps and spits in the groundlings' faces."
The London Magazine (star rating not used): "The pace of the production is skilfully developed, with Colin Morgan’s Ariel pivotal, injecting a spellbinding touch (in scenes of startlingly confident theatricality) and bringing home the play’s concerns with freedom. Morgan is athletic and otherworldly, mellow rather than mischievous and played with an intelligent depth that builds up the fascinating relationship with his master Prospero: it is here that the understated quality of Herrin’s production finds its power."
NEWThe Observer (star rating not used): "Colin Morgan from Merlin is Ariel, bringing his smooth magic to the South Bank. Limber, honey-voiced, swinging from a lintel, he is eerily still as he comes to his master's side in a white feathered costume."
The Stage (star rating not used): "Ariel is presented as a camp-looking spirit, dressed in a tight, lilac, feather-covered top, voluminous trousers and white boots. In Ariel, the impressive Colin Morgan is given ample opportunity to demonstrate his athleticism, with the sprightly imp frequently scurrying up walls and swinging by his arms to carry himself about the stage in an other-worldly, magical way."
The Telegraph (4/5 stars): "Colin Morgan memorably captures Ariel’s mixture of the ethereal and the petulant. [...] a production that memorably captures the humour, the enchantment and the tantalising sense of mystery of Shakespeare’s last masterpiece."
The Upcoming (5/5 stars): "Colin Morgan’s Ariel, is tall, graceful, and calm spirited. His expression is controlled and, with this, majestic and spellbinding. His natural height and obvious flexibility support these choices, but he has absolutely made this well known character his own and succeeded in doing so."
Time Out London (3/5 stars): "And he lives on a desert island with his precocious teenage daughter Miranda - maybe somebody from one of those Andrew Lloyd Webber talent shows to play her - an oddball fairy called Ariel - Colin Morgan from ‘Merlin’ is free now, right? - and a rape-happy goblin called Caliban. [...] And while [Prospero]’s on stage, everything goes to plan - his slightly stilted repartee with Morgan’s somewhat confused Ariel is a hoot in particular[...] for now this bold comic reinvention of Shakespeare’s final play is only a qualified success."
What's On Stage (3 stars): "Roger Allam's mellifluous tones suggest a man wholly in love with learning; there's a delicacy in his scenes with Colin Morgan's fleet-of-foot Ariel, a touch of tenderness. [...] It's a curious mix: some excellent verse speaking, some fine comedy and an attractive young couple at the heart but the darker elements are missing entirely - it's a simplistic reading but one greatly appreciated by the Globe audience."