Beale is unmatched at finding the ambivalence at the core of a character, and here his intelligence as an actor melds perfectly with the idea that Shakespeare, in his only original plot, was musing on theatre itself. Prospero’s great speeches towards the end of the play are invested by Beale with a profound and equally balanced appreciation at once of the wondrous potency of these visions and their ultimate insufficiency in the face of life itself.
Fears that the technology would upstage the actors are firmly scotched by the presence of Beale as Prospero. He has the capacity not only to act mind but to convey moral gravity.
Simon Russell Beale returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company after more than 20 years and marks the occasion by turning in one of the most profoundly moving performances of his career.
