A Tempest played so straight It’s soporific

The Tempest is back in town, and with a star like Ralph Fiennes in the lead, it’s unlikely that Trevor Nunn’s new production will need much help from the critics to get bums on seats. But although Fiennes brings a moving dignity to Shakespeare’s tale of a usurped duke plotting a magical revenge, he’s not enough to distract from an ensemble cast who seem drained of energy, in a production played so straight it’s soporific.

The last major production of The Tempest to hit London was Cheek by Jowl’s all-Russian version, back in April. That was a riot of energy, no nuance of the language safe from ostentatious re-interpretation – a brilliant reminder of the elastic possibilities of this text. By contrast, Trevor Nunn’s production eschews such whimsy, providing the text so straight up that it’s presumably aimed at introducing novices to Shakespeare’s play. But the result is that the text remains opaque: key lines are squandered, jokes ignored, menaces mumbled.