For our fourth week we challenge you to interpret and share:

We’ve invited actors Christopher Ryan Grant, Jordan Hilario, and Jimmy Smits; composers Michelle Rodriguez and Salomon Lerner to share their interpretations of this famous passage.

THE TEMPEST
Act Three, Scene Two

WATCH: Check out the videos from our Public Theater family for inspiration on this page. 
CREATE: Get inspired! Act, sing, rewrite, translate, paint, dance – whatever moves you!
CAPTURE: Record a video or snap a photo of your work. 
SHARE: Post your interpretation and share it with us and challenge your friends! Tag @PublicTheaterNY on Twitter and Instagram or @publictheater on Facebook, and be sure to use the hashtag #BraveNewShakespeare.
BONUS POINTS: Tag a friend who you think is up for the challenge. 

THE TEMPEST
By William Shakespeare
Act 3, Scene 2

Invisible, the spirit Ariel plays the tune on a tabor and pipe. Stephano and Trinculo are amazed.

CALIBAN
Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not....

Read the full passage here. 

La Tempestad
Acto III, Escena ii
Traduccion, Ángel-Luis Pujante

Ariel toca la cancion con flauta y tamboril.

CALIBÁN
No temas; la isla está llena de sonidos
y músicas suaves que deleitan y no dañan...

Lee el pasaje completo aquí.

From James Shapiro, Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater

These evocative and hauntingly beautiful lines are spoken by Caliban, native to the island on which Prospero and his daughter Miranda land in The Tempest. This would be Shakespeare’s last solo-authored play, likely written and first staged in 1611, and one of the most musical of his works. The belittling description of Caliban as a “savage and deformed slave” in the 1623 Folio edition of Shakespeare’s works is belied by the simple eloquence and deep sensitivity to the environment expressed in these lines. Caliban is speaking here to Stephano and Trinculo, a drunken butler and a jester who have recently washed ashore; though seemingly more civilized than Caliban, they remain impervious to the magical and musical qualities of the isle, to which Caliban is so deeply attuned.

In this speech Caliban, who is often referred to a “savage” and a “monster" uses his deep sensitivity and connection to his environment to soothe the fears of newcomers ...

Observe

Listen to the sounds outside your window, notice the colors you can see outside. 

• Can you identify some sounds / sights that are unique to your neighborhood? 
• Try describing those sights or sounds with figurative language. 
• Can you write a poem to introduce a newcomer to your neighborhood and put them at ease? 

Create

• Consider the sounds that Caliban describes and try to recreate them using objects around you.
• Have a friend or family member help you make the sounds while you speak the speech. Do the sounds fit? 

Caliban describes the clouds opening and riches about to fall on him. Develop that image…

• What does he mean by “riches”?
• Could you write new lines in this speech that expand that image?
• Can you draw / paint that image of the clouds opening

Discuss

• How can this speech relate to our current experience? 
• In the different versions of the speech you see online, what acting choices are different and how do they change the speech?
• What is your favorite line of the speech and why?

Resources for Arts Educators here.

Read about teaching theater online here, here, and here.

READ ALL OF SHAKESPEARE FOR FREE AT THE FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY ONLINE!

Read THE TEMPEST

Read, download, and learn more about The Tempest here.

Listen to a podcast about Shakespeare’s music here.

Find dozens of Shakespeare podcasts here.

Read the poet Safiyah Sinclair’s thoughts about Caliban and The Tempest here.