Serendipitous discoveries often enhance music travels. An overnight stop at Frankfurt en route to Stuttgart's Eclat 2001 left no obvious Monday evening alternative on to a sold-out Jose Carreras recital, but an English Theater in the city warranted seeking out. A little outside Seen&Heard's more typical fare, we had overlooked the original London production of Return to the Forbidden Planet in 1989 and were unaware that it had stormed New York, Sydney, Oslo and Japan since then, as well as touring extensively in UK, where it won the Olivier Award for Best Musical. Our younger generation assures us that the loss was ours and, maybe, yours? Well honed on its travels, this version of The Tempest has the potential for survival for as long as Shakespeare, whose story is irreverently celebrated with great wit and ingenuity alongside some of the great days of Rock and Roll, which had also passed me by at the time.
How many continental cities are able to support an English theatre we do
not know? Frankfurt's is small, comfortable and well appointed, with all
the high-tech equipment required for special effects in this space
drama. The story was introduced on screen, and in character, by the
Mayor of Frankfurt (for the original, it was Patrick Moore, who else?) and
this enterprising theatre, which attracts audiences that are 70% German,
enjoys premises provided by the City, is closely involved with schools and
English language teaching.
The slightly altered story has Captain Tempest marooned in space. A robot
called Ariel repairs the space ship, whose Science Officer who turns out
to be Miranda's Mummy, who had betrayed the great scientist Prospero fifteen
years ago and bundled him off in a defective satellite, with baby daughter
on board ….. For more, and a wonderful farrago of Shakespeare quotes
and re-writes, consult the text published by French & Co. The multi-skilled
British cast acted, sang and danced, and played all the instruments themselves.
They drew in the audience to participate with enormous and good humour, and
the songs were taken from chart toppers of such
luminaries as Bill Haley & his Comets, Cliff Richards, The
Animals and The Beach Boys, and others from the '50s & '60s doubtless
well known to everyone but us. A great night out; catch it if it comes your
way after the cast comes back to UK following their four months in Frankfurt.
Alternatively, there is a splendid original cast CD
Virgin
CDV 2631
http://www.englishtheater-frankfurt.de
Peter Grahame Woolf
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