Behind the Scenes: Penn & Teller, Taymor and the Tempest Divide Shakespeare's Globe, London

Julie Taymor's 2010 film of The Tempest offers a decidedly expression- istic representation of the storm at sea. Released in a select few cinemas in the UK in March 2011, Taymor's film graphically portrays the storm's growing intensity as waves lash and thunder cracks over the sixteenth- century galleon bearing Antonio and his co-conspirators. The vessel is tossed and torn by the relentless localized tempest. Crew and passengers jostle on deck, their fear and panic heightened by the apparent pur- posefulness of this fatal event. The theatricality of the moment is made hyper-real by filmic techniques that accentuate the actuality of shipwreck. Mariners struggle to survive in their alien element, with nature unleash- ing its full fury against them. The cinema audience become voyeuristic onlookers as the tragedy unfolds. A visceral sense of horror accompanies this visual and aural tumult. Secure and safe, they experience the vicari- ous thrill of destruction and despair as the film's fictive characters suffer their mortal peril. The directorial skill with which Taymor creates this traumatic opening episode confirms her ability to re-envision that most difficult of Shake- speare's scenes, the onstage shipwreck. It also confirms her understanding of the dramatic and narrative importance of this incident within the play as a whole, and her personal engagement with Shakespeare's playtext. In the glossy photographic book and screenplay, published to coincide with the film's release, Taymor goes some way toward explaining her particular fascination with The Tempest and its playwright. "Shakespeare was the ultimate screenwriter," she observes, with The Tempest offering "a great opportunity for a film director ( . . . ) from its wondrous and diverse parts for actors to visual dimensions and challenges that are ripe