Miranda and Caliban

Starred review from October 17, 2016
Carey (the Santa Olivia series) turns Shakespeare’s Tempest on its head, in ways that are always supportable by the original text, with this brilliant deconstruction. On the deserted island where Miranda grows up, her magician father, Prospero, keeps mostly to himself for the sake of his magical studies. Miranda is the childhood playmate and teacher of the orphan Caliban, the island’s original inhabitant, but when they come of age, their friendship grows into romance, which Prospero cannot tolerate. The magician has had plans for Miranda for years—plans involving his enemies, a love spell, and, of course, a tempest. Carey’s version of Prospero is unable to see his daughter as more than a tool, and unable to see Caliban through his preconceptions and academic prejudices. The foreordained pattern of the play mixes beautifully with Carey’s intricate characterization and eye for sensory detail, building mercilessly to dazzling, and devastating, tragic effect.

Even after 400 years, Shakespeare's TEMPEST still captures the imagination. This reworking of the play is told alternately by Miranda and Caliban, who meet as children and grow increasingly close as they mature into teens. Alex Wyndham's portrayal of Caliban, the wild boy whom Prospero attempts to tame and enslave, is emotionally vivid, evoking the boy's curiosity and fear, wonder and loneliness. Gemma Dawson's rhythmic cadence and more restrained delivery highlight Miranda's roots in the European gentry, creating a stark contrast between the protagonists. Neither narrator sounds youthful, and listeners will have to remind themselves that Miranda and Caliban are quite young. As Prospero's schemes come to fruition--with the storm raging and the teens' fates sealed--Wyndham excels at providing the needed drama. C.B.L. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine