The 40 Minute Tempest/King Ram

Two brand new plays for children incorporating some of the most beautiful verse Shakespeare ever wrote. The Forty Minute Tempest recreates the world of Shakespeare's great play as told by Prospero and Ariel as they journey towards Prospero's retirement and Ariel's freedom. Using storytelling techniques, puppetry, the modern idiom, and Shakespeare's verse for it's more heightened moments, it magically brings to life the world of Prospero's island. The perfect introduction to the words of the Bard. King Ram is the story of an old king with a foolish plan to split his lands between his two daughters, Regan and Cordelia, and of a ten year old boy's desperate search for a baby's father. Based on Shakespeare's King Lear, it draws on many of the same themes: nature, madness, treatment of the elderly, and family relationships. The Forty Minute Tempest opens at the National Theatre in May 2002.