A THEATRE company defied the odds to put on a unique production of The Tempest at the National Waterways Museum.
Preparations for the performance were hit two weeks before opening night when two of the actors had to pull out.
But the show went ahead in front of sell-out audiences on February 20 and 21.
Director Laura Harris said: “We had so many troubles along the way that I’m sure many of the young actors wondered whether we would actually make it to the performance.
“In the last two weeks leading up to the performance, I was forced to jiggle the cast around as we suddenly found ourselves short two lead roles and even had to take on a role myself!”
Steampunk’d, by the Boaty Youth Theatre, featured a female Prospera (rather than Prospero), a biomechanoid Caliban, a grief-stricken and schizophrenic Sebastian and a set including a crashed airship and enjoyed a sell-out run of well-received performances.
The mayor of Ellesmere Port, Pat Merrick, attended and remarked it made her feel ‘proud to come from Ellesmere Port’.
The Wednesday performance was also attended by Tony Hales, chairman of the Canal and Rivers Trust, who had helped to arrange funding of the production and a workshop day the actors had with the Royal Shakespeare Company last summer.
Laura added: “He, too, was incredibly impressed and said that it was an incredible performance and an inspired adaptation; he also said he would be reporting back to the RSC with very positive comments.”
The live performances featured film sequences shot on site and utilising green-screen technology to create an exciting backdrop, and an original score created and recorded by members of the company.
