Theater quick check

What you need to know: “The Tempest” by Shakespeare

Quick theater review by Larissa Schütz(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Tschepp, stock.adobe.com)

Whether you're on the trolleybus on the way to the performance, having a cigarette before the premiere or queuing for the toilet, with this quick check you'll be perfectly prepared for the evening in just 2 minutes. The "Krone" has the most important information about Shakespeare's "The Tempest".

What is it about? From today (Friday, November 8, 7.30 pm), the Schauspielhaus Salzburg is showing Shakespeare's last work about a sibling dispute that escalates completely with the help of magic. In the end, only love can settle it.

Plot: Prospero, once Duke of Milan and now a full-time magician, was betrayed by his brother Antonio and has been living for years with his daughter Miranda on a remote island in a magical commune with a witch, her son Caliban and the air spirit Ariel. When the king's ship sails past the island with his brother on board, Prospero orders Ariel to drive the ship towards them with a storm. Among the shipwrecked is the king's son Ferdinand, who stumbles straight into Miranda's arms, whereupon the two fall in love. The remaining castaways wander across the island and through a series of magic games, whereupon Antonio realizes that he can no longer get a foot on the ground here without his crazy brother being behind it. He is faced with a choice: revenge and total escalation or forgiveness and family peace. He opts for option 2, renounces magic and decides to return to Milan.

Show-off knowledge for the interval: Prospero addresses the audience directly at the end to say goodbye. This monologue is regarded as Shakespeare's own farewell to the stage and the play as the only "genuinely happy ending" among all of Shakespeare's works.