Saturday 19 March 2016


 I was entranced yesterday by Ophelia's Ghost, (she's part of the new Shakespeare in Art exhibition at Compton Verney). Talk about suffering for your art ...
This is a holographic projection onto water. Ophelia was weighted down in a tank of a water in a chilly car park; those are real bubbles when she's gasping for air; and it took about five hours to film. Moral? Don't marry an artist. It was made by husband and wife team Davy and Kristin McGuire.


So what changes? It nearly killed Lizzy Siddal posing for Millais.

I wasn't wild about the paintings in this exhibition. But it is beautifully designed by the RSC's director of design. You enter to the sound of crashing waves - ship's planks creaking underfoot - and you're in Prospero's storm in The Tempest. Fuzzy image, sorry. It's Philip de Loutherbourg's The Tempest, Act 1 , Scene 1, The Shipwreck, 1793.

Then you're in A Midsummer Night's Dream to the sound of birdsong, recorded from birds that were around in Shakespeare's day. (Don't ask me. More sparrows. No green parakeets.)

Temptation ... now I really want to book tickets for this very inventive production of The Tempest. Why does it have to be such a pain getting to Stratford-upon-Avon by train?

2 comments:

Victoria B said...

Many thanks for alerting me to The Tempest production. We have now got tickets! I really enjoy your blog . One of the best of the many I follow.

mary said...

Thanks Victoria. I'm still pondering whether I really want a wintry day out in Stratford!