Shakespeare's shipwrecked sorcerer finally gets the avant-garde fever dream he deserves.
Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.
Acting
Len Cariou's Prospero: intellectual rage barely contained.
Direction
Hirsch strips bare Shakespeare's most magical play deliberately.
Costume
Contemporary dress forces political reading over fantasy escape.
Director
John Hirsch
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This 1983 Canadian television production emerged from the Stratford Festival's experimental wing, reflecting a national arts movement prioritizing accessible Shakespeare over spectacle.
Director John Hirsch was a Hungarian-Canadian Jewish refugee who survived the Holocaust; his Prospero carries specific weight as exile contemplating power and forgiveness.
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