Synopsis

In our ballet adaptation of The Tempest, Prospera, the rightful Duchess of Milan and a powerful sorceress, is exiled to a remote island with her daughter Miranda after her sister, Antonia, seizes her title. On the island, the mother and daughter encounter mystical beings unlike anything they’ve known—magical sprites and a mischievous half-human creature named Caliban. With the help of these enchanted inhabitants, Prospera and Miranda build a life together in isolation.

Years later, an opportunity for revenge arises. With the aid of the island sprite Ariel, Prospera conjures a mighty storm—the tempest—to shipwreck Antonia and the nobles who betrayed her. As the castaways struggle to navigate the island, Prospera orchestrates events to confront her sister and reclaim her power over Milan.

But her plans are complicated when an unexpected romance blossoms between Miranda and Prince Ferdinand, one of the shipwrecked nobles. Their innocent love softens Prospera’s resolve, forcing her to grapple with the tension between vengeance and forgiveness. Ultimately, she chooses reconciliation, renounces her magic, and prepares to return to Milan.

This ballet explores themes of power, redemption, and illusion—inviting audiences to reflect on the transformative strength of love and mercy.

A Note from the Director

The many different interpretations and lenses through which Shakespeare’s works can be read are part of what make them such compelling and complex stories to wrestle with. Our creative team views Caliban—and the other characters’ experiences of being both victims and oppressors—as illustrations of why forgiveness, rather than revenge, is the only way to move past our wounds without perpetuating harm to others and ourselves. While stories cannot be fully separated from the time in which they were written—and we should not gloss over the problematic implications of those eras—this does not diminish the truth or poignancy of the other themes they explore.