We Caliban, the latest work from one of the UK’s most distinctive choreographers Shobana Jeyasingh, is a danced reimagining of Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest through the eyes of Prospero’s ‘monster’. We Caliban is at Sadler’s Wells East from 21 to 23 April, tickets here.
What inspired you to reinterpret The Tempest through Caliban’s perspective in We Caliban?
I had spent a fair bit of time reading The Tempest at university. and was captivated by it. My focus was naturally on Prospero, the lead character. In recent years I caught up with the discourse and writings around Caliban and I was amazed, in retrospect, on how the ill treatment of Caliban by Prospero had totally escaped my attention. My own connection to Caliban, as a brown person encountering Europe, seemed interesting to explore.
How do your personal experiences as a British Asian woman shape the cultural and political themes in this work?
My grandparents in Sri Lanka and India were very much products of colonial history. They went to schools run by the British, learnt English, changed their clothing habits and adapted to another culture My parents’ immense admiration for the English education system funded my travel to the UK to be a student of English Literature.
European empire building changed the fortunes of my forefathers as it did Caliban’s.
What was your creative process in translating Shakespeare’s text into a visceral contemporary dance piece?
Reading the play with Caliban in mind is a different experience. My biggest decision was not to perform the whole play but only the scenes that impacted Caliban. Most of these scenes were in reported speech in the original play. Therefore there was less “translating” but more creating anew.
Can you talk about your collaboration with co-dramaturg Uzma Hameed and how it influenced the final production?
It was a wonderful experience working with Uzma, We have very similar life experiences as British Asian women who studied English Lit at uni. The many conversations I had with her were crucial in shaping my engagement with the play. She was also an important ally in researching historical documents which influenced what is seen on stage.
I also worked on a different level with Priyamvada Gopal who is professor of post-colonial studies at Cambridge. She was an invigorating and inspirational woman to talk to. We discussed the play in some depth, especially its post-colonial readings. Her reading lists were influential in how I dealt with The Tempest on stage. Priya had interesting things to say about the play as a parable of power. She helped me read Caliban’s alleged assault on Miranda by pointing me to similar incidents in EM Forster’s Passage To India and Harper’s To Kill a Mocking Bird. These elevated the Tempest incident into an encounter between cultures and races rather than one between two individuals.
How do design elements like video, music and lighting contribute to the storytelling in We Caliban?
Dance, while being the main medium, cannot be the sole one in certain stories. Music, light and video design at times provide the framework within which the dance rests or add additional layers to complete the dramaturgy. Different media were ‘choreographed’ to narrate different bits of the dramaturgy to complement the dance choreography. For example, Queen Elizabeth I’s letter giving permission for Walter Raleigh to annex non-Christian territories in the New World became part of the audio score. The re- naming of place names by Columbus and other European travellers is dealt with by projections.
What conversations or reflections do you hope audiences will leave with after seeing the piece?
Whether they are familiar with The Tempest or not I hope that they will find We Caliban intriguing, entertaining and enjoyable. One of dance’s unique qualities is that you communicate in a medium where you don’t need to separate thought from feeling or emotion. I would like We Caliban to engage emotions and sensibilities and, through those, provoke thought.