This page is for The Tempest as staged during St. Ann’s 2017 season. If you are looking to stream this production at home during our 2020 season, please visit our current season page for the Shakespeare Trilogy on Film. The Tempest streams from OCT 23–29, 2020 and again during the Trilogy Marathon Weekend OCT 30–NOV 1, 2020.
“Exhilarating… Ecstatic Energy… The most entertaining ‘Tempest’ I’ve ever seen…”
–Ben Brantley, The New York Times Critics’ Pick
The Donmar Warehouse returns to St. Ann’s with The Tempest, the finale to Phyllida Lloyd’s thrilling all-female Shakespeare Trilogy. Led by the great Harriet Walter as Prospero, and with songs by the legendary Joan Armatrading, The Tempest takes place in a women’s prison, where Lloyd’s intrepid “inmates” play the roles Shakespeare originally wrote for men. The Tempest proves a moving metaphor, conjuring Prospero’s magical island from the stark prison setting. The result “…is a multilayered act of liberation.” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times)
St. Ann’s Warehouse has been a proud home for the trilogy (Julius Caesar, Henry IV, The Tempest) which has ignited a cultural and social conversation about gender, equality and aspiration on both sides of the Atlantic. The Tempest will be presented with a comprehensive education program for New York City youth in the juvenile justice system and underserved young women.
Learn More about The Tempest
The New Yorker: "Two Ways To Bring Shakespeare Into The Twenty-First Century"
Read the article>>
Read Harriet Walter’s brand new book Brutus and Other Heroines, an intimate account of her experience performing Shakespeare’s most famous roles both male and female.
Signed copies are available for purchase in the St. Ann's lobby!
One Take Shakespeare
Teenagers aged 13-18 in NYC!
St. Ann’s Warehouse and Donmar Warehouse challenge you to make your own One Take Shakespeare by recording a 90 second video and be entered to win Season tickets to St. Ann’s Warehouse!
Ninety seconds, no props, no special effects – just you, a camera, and the world’s greatest playwright. Record your speech in your bedroom, in the car, at school or in the park – wherever you want. This is your chance to be the King of Scotland or the Prince of Denmark, a local drunk, a mighty warrior or a hopeless romantic. Even if you have never attempted to say a Shakespeare speech out loud before, give it a try!
This contest has closed. The winner will be contacted via email. Thank you!
Watch The Tempest cast member Jade Anouka record her own One Take Shakespeare.
Reviews: The Tempest
Exhilarating… Senses-Scrambling… Ecstatic Energy…
The most entertaining ‘Tempest’ I’ve ever seen...Prospero is brought to commanding life by Harriet Walter...Shelia Atim and Martina Laird are...irresistible
–THE NEW YORK TIMES, CRITICS' PICK!
Read Ben Brantley's review>>
[Harriet] Walter’s emotionally translucent Prospero—bluff pride exquisitely mingled with shame and penitence—is reason enough to attend
–TIME OUT NEW YORK
Read the David Cote's review>>
A glorious reminder that genuine diversity on stage offers astonishing creative benefits… this is genuinely art to enchant.
–THE GUARDIAN
Read the full review here>>
There's a quirky earthiness, comic grit, and fiercely choreographed punch in this splendid multi-ethnic cast which has no weak link….brilliantly bracing...
–THE INDEPENDENT
Read the full review here>>
A triumphant project…
A celebration of the fertile possibilities of breaking free of conventional casting.
–EVENING STANDARD
Read the full review here>>
A multilayered act of liberation. Prisoners are allowed to roam the wide
fields of Shakespeare’s imagination; fine actresses are given the chance to play meaty roles that have been denied them; and we get to climb out of the straitjackets of our traditional perceptions of a venerated play.
–THE NEW YORK TIMES on HENRY IV
Read the full review here>>
Special Events:
Opening Night | WED JAN 18
Voices On Talkback | WED JAN 25
Following the 7:30 pm performance please join us for an artist talk back.
Inside Circle Dinner | TUE JAN 24, TUE FEB 7
Inside Circle Night | WED JAN 25
American Express® Card Member Night with Post-Show Cabaret | WED FEB 15
Following the 7:30 pm performance please join us in the St. Ann’s Warehouse lobby for “O Brave New World”, an intimate cabaret of song and spoken word performed by cast of The Tempest!
Shakespeare For All: Student Matinee | WED FEB 8
Student Matinee of THE TEMPEST and Talkback on Wed, Feb 8, 2PM.
$10 Per Ticket for NYC DOE Public Schools FREE IN-SCHOOL Workshop (Jan 30- Feb 7), FREE PD For Participating Teachers (Date TBD)
After a London World Premiere, in Jan 2017 St. Ann’s Warehouse will present Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST staged with an all‐female cast and set in a women’s prison. Once again in partnership with the DOE Theater Office, we are offering New York public school teens a chance to see a performance of this final work in a Trilogy offered at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Students also take part in a free in-school workshop with a member of London’s Donmar Company.
This event has reach capacity and we are no longer accepting applications. Questions? Send us an email.
Female Empowerment Day
Workshops, Student Matinee of THE TEMPEST and Talkback on Wed, Feb 8.
$10 Per Ticket for NYC DOE Public Schools
10 AM – Interactive Workshops
1 PM- Lunch
2 PM – Student Matinee of THE TEMPEST 4PM -Talkback
After a London World Premiere, in Jan 2017 St. Ann’s Warehouse will present THE TEMPEST, the final work in director Phyllida Lloyd’s acclaimed Shakespeare Trilogy. Set in a women’s prison with an all-female cast, THE TEMPEST gives some of the finest female Shakespeareans the chance to take on roles traditionally reserved for men.
Once again in partnership with the DOE THEATER OFFICE, we are offering young women in New York public schools a chance to participate in a special Female Empowerment Day with workshops, a performance, and a talkback. Female Empowerment Day is the perfect opportunity for young women to learn about leadership from the Donmar’s skilled education team and professional woman across careers.
This event has reach capacity and we are no longer accepting applications. Questions? Send us an email.
This program is supported by
Global Production Supporter
Miranda Curtis
Production Associates
Backstage Trust, Marcia Whitaker, Kathleen J. Yoh, Jon and NoraLee Sedmak
