A Tempest: Based on Shakespeare's the Tempest: Adaptation for a Black Theatre (Tcg Translations)

Rating:
Summary: a fabulous reinvention of The Tempest
Review: Aime Cesaire wrote this variation of The Tempest from an Afrocentric, Carribean perspective. It is a magnificent achievement. Caliban becomes the hero as Cesaire advances a variety of different ideas. By changing the perspective, A Tempest explores a lot of issues like rascism and colonialism. Prospero becomes the Oppressor and Caliban is the Native wrongly robbed of his ancestral right to rule his own land. Ariel is reduced to something of an Uncle Tom. To his credit, Cesaire never allows any character in the play become completely unsympathetic. That is a grand feat. It is consistent with Shakespeare who also grants humanity even to Caliban. I found this adaptation to be brilliant. Cesaire follows the theme of The Tempest all the while making it his own work. I was even compelled to reread The Tempest just for comparative purposes. The reread of The Tempest served only to heighten my appreciation for A Tempest. This is work that should be read by anyone interested in the theatre.

Rating:
Summary: a fabulous reinvention of The Tempest
Review: Aime Cesaire wrote this variation of The Tempest from an Afrocentric, Carribean perspective. It is a magnificent achievement. Caliban becomes the hero as Cesaire advances a variety of different ideas. By changing the perspective, A Tempest explores a lot of issues like rascism and colonialism. Prospero becomes the Oppressor and Caliban is the Native wrongly robbed of his ancestral right to rule his own land. Ariel is reduced to something of an Uncle Tom. To his credit, Cesaire never allows any character in the play become completely unsympathetic. That is a grand feat. It is consistent with Shakespeare who also grants humanity even to Caliban. I found this adaptation to be brilliant. Cesaire follows the theme of The Tempest all the while making it his own work. I was even compelled to reread The Tempest just for comparative purposes. The reread of The Tempest served only to heighten my appreciation for A Tempest. This is work that should be read by anyone interested in the theatre.

Rating:
Summary: Important, period
Review: Cesaire's A TEMPEST wears its politics on its sleeve, and that can be grating even when its political message is agreeable with your own leanings. This is not a particularly subtle work, but it is of supreme importance to understanding a number of socio-political movements, especillly as they relate to the Carribean (though it reaches far beyond that limited geographic range in its implications). Order this in conjunction with Shakepeare's original, Dryden's rewrite, Rodo's ARIEL, Retamar's CALIBAN and perhaps PROSPERO'S BOOKS starring John Gielgud. Then go to town...or perhaps away from it.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: Cesaire's reinvention of Shakespeare's play is an unimpressive piece of work by almost any standard. It moves with the subtlety of a train wreck, shoving its political agenda down the reader's or viewer's throat. The entire affair is so ham-fisted and simplistic in flaunting its politics that it comes across as infantile bellyaching instead of the brilliant re-imagining that Cesaire is so obviously hoping for (and certainly could have achieved). Parts of this play are painful to experience, and read next to Shakespeare's original, it's simply embarrassing.

Postcolonial theorists and critics will often hasten to engage in apologetics for this mediocrity. They will explain that Cesaire is "subverting a western form" or that he is intentionally evoking discomfort and anger in his audience. The former is a typical excuse for colonial works that are simply bad; the latter is probably true but is unable to justify or even to explain the abysmal quality of this play.

As in his Discourse on Colonialism, Cesaire is guilty of ruining a potentially great work by oversimplification and vacuous rhetoric.

Rating:
Summary: Searching
Review: I loved Aime Cesaire's Return to the Native Land which read from a library, the verses roll like thunder, and I wonder if it is in print anymore. Please email [e-mail].

Rating:
Summary: Spanish version - "Une tempete" Aimè Cèsaire
Review: Please can you tell me if "Une Tempete" - Aimè Cèsaire has been edit in spanish - if yes where or how can I buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Spanish version
Review: Please can you tell me if this book has been edit in spanish - if yes where or how can I buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: Yes, this is a re-working of The Tempest from a Caribbean perspective. Cesaire basically extrapolates Shakespeare's anti-colonial criticism and backfits the story into that scheme. Of course, the play is modernized and packed with civil rights movement references. Caliban has a stronger role, but very hackneyed. This play reads like a political pamphlet; everything is spelled out for you. I think it has social importance, but from a literary standpoint it was forgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Probably better on stage
Review: Yes, this is a re-working of The Tempest from a Caribbean perspective. Cesaire basically extrapolates Shakespeare's anti-colonial criticism and backfits the story into that scheme. Of course, the play is modernized and packed with civil rights movement references. Caliban has a stronger role, but very hackneyed. This play reads like a political pamphlet; everything is spelled out for you. I think it has social importance, but from a literary standpoint it was forgettable.