Shobana Jeyasingh, one of the most dynamic and distinctive forces in UK dance, turns her creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, in a tale of power lost and regained – We Caliban comes to Mayflower Studios on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 October 2025.
Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is a tale about power and is Prospero’s story. But We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. It is an abstracted and impressionistic take which draws on present-day parallels as well as the personal experiences of Jeyasingh and her co-dramaturg Uzma Hameed.
Jeyasingh reframes the story through the eyes of Caliban, a minor character in the play. His life is changed forever when the power games of distant lands and unknown peoples are played out on his own remote island, making him a ‘monstrous’ servant to a new master, Prospero, and his young daughter, Miranda. Violence is never far from Caliban whether it is the physical and verbal violence meted out to him or the violence with which he resists his captivity and forced labour.
These familiar characters and their struggles emerge from an ensemble cast setting the scene and conveying emotion, including the subtle trauma of colonisation. Mythic and antique yet all too contemporary, We Caliban is visceral and potent dance theatre.
Video projections by Will Duke draw on travel literature from Shakespeare’s time, Christopher Columbus’s diary, paintings of first meetings with native Americans, as well as sounds and images of flora and fauna and the turbulent sea.
New commissioned music is by French composer Thierry Pécou with whom Jeyasingh collaborated in 2022 for Opera du Rhin’s Until the Lions. Pécou is known for his fascination with musical cultures from distant historical periods. Lighting design is by Floriaan Ganzevoort with set and costume design by Mayou Trikerioti.
Dancers incude Tanisha Addicott, Gabriel Ciulli, Julia Costa, Natnael Dawit, Oliver Mahar, Tabitha O’Sullivan and Holly Vallis.
Tickets for We Caliban (Thursday 2 and Friday 3 October 2025) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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