AN open-air reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest focusing on environmental themes is coming to Hampshire.

The Tempest will be playing at Whitchurch Silk Mill Gardens on Saturday, July 8 at 6.30pm and at Basing House Gardens on Friday, July 14 at 6pm.

Performed and adapted by SISATA Open Air Theatre, this modern retelling has a focus on climate change and the environment not originally found in the classic play.

The show sees a great storm approaching the Isle of Portland, bringing trouble to its shores. Prospero’s spells wash ashore the ghosts of his past, triggering strange magical consequences for Portlanders; Miranda, Ariel and Caliban.

The human lust for power and control have become toxic, causing devastating pollution, endangering lives and the future of the land itself. Can the tempest crisis unite them to live and love and work together with nature to battle the inevitable tide of climate change? Will love win the day?

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This SISATA production draws from experiences of climate change and the power of nature through the company’s work with coastal communities on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Alongside the adapted narrative, the characters also wear costumes made of recycled waste materials to highlight environmental issues.

Speaking about the differences between the adaptation and the original play, actress Anna Takashima, who is playing Ariel, said: “We’re really drawing on parts of Portland, relating it to The Tempest. It’s so interesting the connections; the will of nature, the mystical, and spiritual aspects. As well as the contemporary issues of climate change, ocean plastics and the incinerator on Portland. They’re so interchangeable, those themes of the play with what’s going on in Portland.

“For me as a Portlander, I think it’s nice to be able to share the Portland experience with a wider audience, especially the impact of climate change on coastal communities.”

The Tempest has been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Lighthouse, Poole, Arts University Bournemouth and Bournemouth University. Tickets can be purchased by visiting sisata.co.uk.