The Tempest

Hosted by Chris Piuma and Suzanne Conklin Akbari

Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again.

The Tempest is one of William Shakespeare’s last plays—and one of his most curious. Prospero, former Duke of Milan, was exiled with his daughter Miranda twelve years ago, but now an opportunity arises for him to restore his place on the throne. Chris and Suzanne explore this magical and musical island where time and place follow a dream-logic (or theatre-logic?).

14. The Tempest.

The Spouter-Inn One of William Shakespeare’s last plays—and one of his most curious. More episodes

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Show Notes.

William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. [An online edition; free audiobook at Librivox. Bookshop.]

How We Read, an essay collection edited by Suzanne and Kaitlin Heller and designed by Chris, is available for purchase (or free PDF download!) from punctum books.

The Encyclopedic Genius of Melville’s Masterpiece: On Moby Dick as a Way of Seeing the World, Suzanne’s essay for Melville’s 200th birthday, on LitHub.

Update: We’ve been reliably informed that The Comedy of Errors also happens, so to speak, in real time.

Paul Mazursky’s Tempest (1982), with John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands.

A review of the performance of The Tempest with Patrick Stewart that Chris saw (a long time ago).

Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, with Helen Mirren as Prospera.

Ian McKellen as Prospero in an audiobook version of The Tempest.

Caliban Never Belonged to Shakespeare: What Shakespeare’s “Thing of Darkness” Tells Us About Gatekeeping and Language, a beautiful essay by Marcos Gonsalez.

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