Direction:
Nona Sheppard
Set and Costume Design:
Marsha Roddy
Writing and Adaptation:
Liza Magtoto
Lighting Design:
Tsuguo Izumi
Cast:
CB Garrucho as Prospero
Press and Reviews:
PETA’s The Tempest Reimagined
by Jude Buot
At best, the testimonies of Yolanda survivors make the story of The Tempest accessible to a local audience. The latter, on the other hand, breaks the monotony of the former. To be fair, Magtoto has developed a poignant story of anxiety, desperation, and hope. This narrative can in fact prosper into a full-fledged play. But, alongside Shakespeare’s text, it needs re-imagination to make it work.
Working designs and inspirations for the costumes and characters. Photo courtesy of PETA
The Tempest Redux
by Camille Anne M. Arcilla | Business World
“I thought it was fabulous because I love Shakespeare to death. Having thought of that fantastic idea, I was taken by PETA to Leyte and I actually met a lot of survivors and I thought they were all inspiring,” she said. “As you know, in England, we don’t have a thing like typhoons. It was incredible to see the devastation, it was grave and upsetting, but on the other hand, the spirit of the people and their resilience was fantastic.” – Nona Sheppard
Love among the ruins: ‘The Tempest Reimagined’
by Rome Jorge | Rappler
As expected of PETA, a theater company with a social transformation mission, the plays offers a stinging indictment of local and national governments for mismanaging the crisis with corruption and partisan politics, foreign aid institutions for empty promises, and even the locals themselves for ignoring call for evacuation.
Tech problems mar opening of PETA’s Yolanda-set ‘Tempest’
by Vladimir Bunoan | ABS-CBN News
“The Tempest Reimagined” has a more serious tone and harks back to PETA’s key advocacy of educational theater. Sheppard and Magtoto do not just make Shakespeare more accessible and relevant to younger Filipinos — students are expected to be the main audience for this play — as they are also interested in promoting disaster risk reduction.
To achieve this twin goals, Sheppard introduced a new character, a young fisherman from Leyte who acts as narrator to bridge the two stories. Sheppard, who also directed the play, seamlessly shifts the action between the two worlds, particularly in the early scenes with the two story lines unfolding separately.
Stage Design
Revisiting memories: Peta’s ‘The Tempest Reimagined’
by Renato L. Santos | Philippine Daily Inquirer
“Tempest Reimagined” comes across with its own epiphany—this by way of Prospero’s conversion—being struck by lightning as it were, on his road to forgiving—toward mercy that transcends the common forgive-and-forget mentality delivered from bully pulpits by many Catholic clergymen who themselves are products of undigested spirituality.
Tags-speare and ‘The Tempest’ rebooted
by Scott R. Garceau | Philippine Star
What’s a little harder to swallow — for me, anyway — was the constant switching from English to Tagalog, Taglish to Shakespearean text, as though language itself has been tossed into the blender. We can totally understand the need to update the story to make it more relatable to modern (a lot of them school-age) Filipino audiences, but there’s something to be said for preserving the language of Shakespeare intact. Though it takes a while to pick up on the rhythms and double meanings, one eventually immerses and surrenders to the Bard’s inventive language; that experience should be respected.
The Tempest Reimagined
by Dorynna Untivero | Philippine Tatler
Here, the idea of a tempest, a storm or tragedy, is challenged – how does one move on, how does one cope when faced with true and utter disaster? The stories of Yolanda survivors serve much more than reminders to be grateful for what we have, moreover, they speak about the true nature of our humanity: our stubbornness to survive, our spirit to persevere, and how much strength we truly are capable of.
Shakespeare in the Philippines 