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| Terry Prince as Prospero in The Tempest at the Abbey Theatre |
WHAT is the link between Shakespeare, Harry Potter and global warming?
The Company of Ten has found a connection in its production of The Tempest, one of Shakespeare's last plays, which runs at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans from Friday 19 January to February 3.
Although on the face of it a play written in 1611 cannot have much relevance in 2007, it demonstrates that while things change, human nature does not. Lust for power, revenge, romance and laughter are still basic ingredients of life and Shakespeare knew better than anyone how to use them to vivid and exciting effect.
The success of Harry Potter shows that we love magic just as much as they did in the 17th century while global warming comes in because no-one knew that weather has always had a trick up its sleeve better than Shakespeare.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is full of references to the unnatural weather patterns that struck Elizabethan England - they even had a mini Ice Age when the Thames was frozen so hard for so long that fairs were held upon it.
Prospero, whose magic is at the heart of The Tempest, can command the weather, even raising a terrible sea storm, but even he cannot foresee the results.
Tickets for The Tempest, which is being held in the Abbey Theatre Studio, are available from the box office on 01727 857861.
© Herts Advertiser 2007. Reproduced by permission