With the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare and the current production of ‘Der Sturm‘ at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck, the Reading Circle decided to read Shakespeare’s last play, ‘The Tempest’, from 1611.

In this follow-up Radio discussion, we quote the Tiroler Tageszeitung review of the Innnsbruck production, offer a synopsis of the play, discuss the figures of Prospero, Caliban and Ariel, and play several extracts from the drama. We intersperse music inspired by the play, by Robert Johnson, Sullivan, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Michael Nyman.

Does Prospero’s manipulative role in the play anticipate Trump’s media manipulation, we wonder…?