Roger Allam seems to be everywhere at the moment. He has become a staple of political comedy on TV, recently adding sardonic dryness in The Politician's Husband to his splendidly drawling turn as Peter Mannion in The Thick of It.
He can also be seen as a worldly-wise detective in ITV's Endeavour. But here he reminds us of his impressive range, in a somewhat slow-moving production of Shakespeare's second-shortest play.
A richly bearded Allam is Prospero, the aristocratic Milanese magician exiled to a remote island. He’s an intriguing mix of authority and vulnerability. At times he is suave, but then there are notes of tenderness and weary candour.
Allam weighs every word exquisitely. He has the ability to make a line as simple as “Fairly spoke” vibrate with meaning — in this case allowing wryness to chafe against humanity. His performance is flecked with humour yet also with pathos.
Around him there is broader comedy. Among the crew shipwrecked on Prospero’s island are Trevor Fox’s Geordie jester Trinculo and Sam Cox’s sozzled butler Stephano. Both expertly play for laughs, often abetted by James Garnon’s alarmingly wild Caliban, deformed and filthy.
Colin Morgan, so familiar from the BBC’s Merlin, is poised and understated as Prospero’s servant Ariel. The programme includes a credit for a “parkour trainer” — Chris Rowat — and it doesn’t take long to work out who the beneficiary has been as Morgan swings from the scenery with acrobatic precision. Yet he also has moments of pale, ethereal stillness.
Jessie Buckley, who got her break on the talent show I’d Do Anything (in which she finished second), brings passion to her role as Prospero’s daughter Miranda. As Ferdinand, the object of her affections, Joshua James has an unusual, wide-eyed charm. But the other shipwrecked travellers don’t feel well-defined.
What’s missing from director Jeremy Herrin’s interpretation is a sense of magic. Allam, for all his subtlety, doesn’t come across as a sorcerer or a scholar. Although the blossoming relationship between Miranda and Ferdinand is attractively conveyed, the play’s romance and dreamy eeriness aren’t fully established. While there are some seductive episodes, other scenes are colourless. This is a skilfully acted account of The Tempest, but not a spellbindingly beautiful one.
Until August 18 (020 7401 9919, shakespearesglobe.com)
