As the sun has finally started to fight back against the torrent of wind and snow that has been beating it into submission over the last four months, so our minds turn to the summer, a time when we at Official London Theatre like nothing more than sucking on an ice-lolly, sipping a Pimms or heading to Shakespeare’s Globe for an evening of open air entertainment.
So it feels like fate that just today, through photographer Marc Brenner’s images, we were given a peek into the rehearsal rooms for that very theatre’s production of The Tempest, which stars Olivier Award winner Roger Allam as isolated sorcerer Prospero and Colin Morgan, whose star continues to rise faster than a rocket-propelled helium balloon after leading the cast of BBC hit Merlin, as spirit helper Ariel.
The images show the pair – Allam, who returns to the Globe after his Olivier Award-winning performance as Falstaff in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Morgan, surely one of our most promising young actors and soon to be seen in TV drama Quirke – being put through their paces by out-of-shot director Jeremy Herrin.
You don’t have long to wait until you’ll be able to see them on the Globe’s stage, when they will be joined by former I’d Do Anything contestant Jessie Buckley as Miranda. The tale of a banished magician who seeks retribution on those who exiled him begins its summer run on 23 April.