A comedy

for Adolescents and Adults

WORKPACK

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Characters
Prospero, former King of Milan and now turned into a mighty enchanter
Miranda, his daughter
Antonio, his brother (who had usurped Prospero’s throne)
Ferdinand, Alonso’s son (Alonso is the king of Naples who had plotted with Antonio)
Stephano, a butler
Trinculo a jester
Ariel, an airy spirit
Sycorax, a witch
Caliban, a monster and Sycorax’ son.

Plot Outline
Prospero, former King of Naples was betrayed by his brother Antonio in order to usurp
his title and abandoned on a raft, into the sea, together with his daughter Miranda.
Now, twelve years have passed, and Prospero, who landed in an island full of magical
creatures, has become a mighty enchanterer himself. He is now provoquing a huge
Tempest that will cause a mayor shipwreck and, looking for revenge, he´ll bring his
deceitful brother (together with some hilarious servants and young Ferdinand - the King of
Naples’ son) to his very own Island.

-Extended Synopsis-
A boat is struck by a violent sea-storm somewhere in the Mediterranean.
Prospero and his young daughter Miranda look on from the safety of a nearby island.
Miranda, fearing that the storm has been created by her father’s magical powers, is upset.
Prospero reassures her that all on board are safe, and goes on to tell the story of how they
arrived on the island some 12 years before. He tells her that he used to be the King of
Milan and was driven from power by his wicked brother Antonio.
Now, as luck would have it, all those who had conspired against Prospero are on board the
struggling boat, and soon they would all end up on the sea shore.
Then, we meet Ariel – a spirit of the air, and a loyal servant to Prospero, who will be
free from his service once his master’s final plans are complete.
The only other inhabitants of the island are Caliban, the son of a “foul witch” Sycorax, and
the witch herself, who lives in exile. They believe that the island should belong to them
and resent Prospero.
Ariel leads Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples, first. When Ferdinand meets Miranda, the
couple falls instantly in love at first sight.
In another part of the island the second group of survivors appears: Trinculo, (Alonso’s
jester) and Stephano, (Alonso’s butler). They have survived by floating to shore on a
barrel of wine, and have drunk their way through it. They meet Caliban, who persuades
them to kill Prospero and seize control of the island.
Elsewhere, Antonio (Prospero’s brother – and the current King of Milan) arrives.
Prospero’s master plan nears its climax, and he vows that upon its completion he will
abandon his magic arts and he will set his loyal servant Ariel free.

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 ACTIVITIES
For teachers:
This workpack is divided into different levels,
taking into account learners’ age and level of
language acquired.
As you may notice, the same play may cater
for an ample age range. This is due to an
important innovation meant to suit different
students’ needs and interests. This means that
while different age groups may be viewing the
same play the various
pre and post language activities in the workpack
attend to a different level.

This play is suitable for students whose level

of English is equivalent to
C1 and C2 on the
Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages.

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ALL LEVELS
BEFORE GOING
TO THE THEATRE

(in addition to reviewing plot and characters)

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 Activity 1 - Start getting used to the slang...

In the left column you can see a collection of

phrases and sayings found in Shakespeare’s
writings and still in use today. Find out and
write each meaning in the right column.

IN STITCHES Laughing uncontrollably.

IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE Very quickly

LIE LOW Keep out of sight.

LOVE IS BLIND People do not see the faults of the ones they love.

MAKE YOUR HAND STAND ON END Alarm someone

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING A big furor about something unimportant.

NIGHT OWL A person who is habitually active at night.

SEND SOMEONE PACKING Make someone leave immediately.

THE GAME IS UP I know your secrets.

UP IN ARMS Protesting bout something.

VANISH INTO THIN AIR Disappear suddenly

WEAR YOUR HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE Show your feelings

Activity 2 – Shakespearean Magical Characters.
Do some research and solve this crossword

1
P 3
U T
2
C A L I B A N
K T
7
A S
5
N O I
I B S
4
A R I E L T
6
R E
P R O S P E R O
N S

1- a clever, mischievous jester to the King of fairies

2- A half human, son of a witch, who inhabited an island before humans

arrived on it due to a shipwreck.
3- the Queen of fairies

4- spirit bound to serve a magician who rescued him from the tree in
which he was imprisoned by a witch

5- the King of fairies

6- A duke who  has learned sorcery from books, and uses it while on an
island to protect his daughter and control the other characters

7- (the weird_____) are three prophets who hail a the general, and

predict his ascent to kingship
ACTIVITY 3
Do some research and answer these questions prior to the play

1. Who wrote The Tempest?

Shakespeare

2. In what year was it written?

1611

3. Where is the play set?

A Mediterranean island

4. Who was on the throne of England at the time?

King James

5. What modes of transport did they use at the time?

Coaches, horses and ships

ACTIVITY 3

Find basic information about the main characters:

6. Where is Prospero originally from?

Milan

7. Who is Prospero’s brother?

Antonio

8. Who is Prospero’s daughter?

Miranda
LEVEL1
AFTER
WATCHING THE
PLAY
Activity 4

CRITICAL THINKING
Answer the questions and give reasons

a) Did you like the play? Why?

__No I didn’t like it, because the actors over exaggerated all the scenes, also the
fact that it was an interactive play, sometimes when they got back with the acting
after the public interaction, the actors sometimes didn’t knew what was the next
dialogue or the next scene in the play.
_____________________________________________________________

b) Give your opinion about the costumes. Justify it.

_The costumes were basic clothes, but I think that they transmitted the character
personality__________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

c) Do you enjoy this kind of comedies? Why?

__No I didn’t, because they exaggerated de jokes at a time that it wasn’t funny at
all, I was the opposite it was annoying.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

d) Do you prefer interactive or non-interactive plays? Why?

__Non-interactive plays, because sometimes the interaction with the public made
that the rest of the people couldn’t imagined or understand what the scene were
transmiting._________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

e) Which famous plays by Shakespeare did you know before this show? Why did you
remember them?
____Romeo & Juliette and Mcbeth, I went to watch them
when I was in high school

___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
 USE OF ENGLISH
ACTIVITY 5:
Write an opposite adjective:

INSENSITIVE Compassionate

JEALOUS Trusting

VIRTUOUS Impure

COMPLIANT Stubborn
VINDICTIVE Forgiving
FOOLISH Smart

Match ONE of them to EACH of these characters you’ve just seen.

(you can either use the original adjective or its opposite)

PROSPERO _Jealous________
MIRANDA _Inocent________
ARIEL __Foolish_______
ANTONIO _Insensitive________
CALIBAN __Compliant_______
TRINCULO _Virtuous________
ACTIVITY 6:
Remember the play
Retell it using this storyboard and summarize each part in as few
words as possible

1 2 3
You must
try to
remember
…

Prospero creates a Prospero tells his Prospero has magical

storm daughter how they servants.
betrayed them. Ariel helps him, Caliban
not so much

4 5 6
I am so, so sorry…

Miranda falls for Antonio apologizes. Caliban plots with

Ferdinand. Trinculo and Stephano
against Prospero.

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ACTIVITY 6:
Complete the following Dramatis personae (list of characters in a dramatic work)

He ___is bold

He is funny

He is jealous

He is brave

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 ACTIVITY 8:
From Shakespeare to modern English

Read this text (parts of Prospero`s final soliloquy) and answer:

1-Now my charms are all o'erthrown,

And what strength I have’s mine own,
Which is most faint.

2-Now, ’tis true,

I might be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples.
Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got

3- With the clap of your good hands.

Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill,

4- As you from crimes would pardoned be,

Let your indulgence set me free.

Are these sentences TRUE or FALSE?

1-My spells are now broken, and I only have my human power which is very weak
T
  2-Please keep me here on this desert island with your magic spells. I am afraid to go to Naples
F
3-I ask for your applause in order to be able to leave
T
F 4- Forgive me, and set me free, just as you’d like to have your own sins forgiven,

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ACTIVITY 9:
Comprehension questions

1. What is special about Prospero?

He knows how to cast spells

2. How has he got these magic powers?

Reading sorcery books

3. Who does Miranda fall in love with?

Ferdinand, the king’s son

4. What is the name of Prospero’s spirit?

Ariel

5. Whose mother is Sycorax?

Caliban

6. What does Caliban say that Trinculo and Stephano should do to Prospero?

Kill him

7. What is Trinculo’s usual job in Naples?

Jester

8 . What happens to Ferdinand and Miranda at the end of the play?

They get married

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 WRITING
ACTIVITY 10:
Write a paragraph to give the play a different ending.

Prospero was so angry to forgive his brother Antonio

and he didn’t let Miranda to get married with Ferdinand,

so Miranda started to hate her father and she decided to

ran away with her lovely man Ferdinand and her brother

Antonio supported her because he also hated his father.

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 LEVEL
2
AFTER
WATCHING THE
PLAY

(Some activities from level 1 can be also used

or adapted to this level)

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 Activity 11

CRITICAL THINKING

As in Elizabethan times, we’ve used Presentational Acting Style: this

means the actors were aware of the presence of an audience instead of
completely ignoring them as part of their art. Movements and gestures
were more exaggerated and dramatic than one might ordinarily expect in
a naturalistic or realistic drama, and puns, humor and interaction directly
connected characters to the audience watching.

Describe whether you prefer this style of acting or not, and why

I don´t like this style of acting because I think that a play,

mostly a Shakespeare’s play, must have realistic and not
exaggerated drama and movements, also the excess of humor
doesn’t work, because it takes all the seriousness off to the play

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.
 Activity 12

Shakespearean English

Choose your favorite character in the play and write a

short description of him/her. You SHOULD use AT LEAST
3 words or phrases invented by Shakespeare. Here are
some:

Auspicious – favorable; promising success; a good omen.

Baseless – without a foundation; not based on fact.
Barefaced – shameless; without disguise. When someone tells a 'barefaced
lie' it is not a very good one and you immediately know it is not true.
Castigate – to punish harshly.
Dexterously – skillful, especially in the use of one’s hands
Dwindle – to get smaller; diminish.
Multitudinous – a lot; a great number.
Sanctimonious – pretending to be very religious or righteous.
Watchdog – a person or group that keeps close watch to discover wrong or
illegal activity.

 "Fair play" (The Tempest) - Follow the rules, especially in competitions or sports.
 "All that glitters isn’t gold" (Merchant of Venice) - We usually use this phrase after we
discover the fact that something that looks good turns out not to be that great.
 "Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve" (Othello) - To be a hopeless romantic (or be open
and honest about how you feel) is to wear one's heart on one's sleeve.
 "Break the ice" (The Taming of the Shrew) - Often when you meet someone for the
first time, you "break the ice" by asking them polite questions about themselves.

I think that my favorite character was Miranda because

she had a very good sense of humor and she didn’t like

to be sanctimonious or barefaced; she was auspicious.

And I think I enjoyed her role in the play

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.
 ACTIVITY 13:
This is a comic strip from one of the scenes.
Remember the play you’ve just seen and retell how this particular scene was staged…

_______________________________________________________________________

___ Actors chose some people from the audience, and they asked
them to pretend that they were wild dogs
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
 ACTIVITY 14:
This is a comic strip from another scene.
Complete the scene with the dialogues
We should
They’re
You
kill have to
Prospero
planning
I’m scary
do it
something

Here are some clues to help you remember…

I don’t
know
 Caliban is convincing Stephano and Trinculo to kill Prospero.

Let’s kill
Ariel appears (using his powers of invisibility) and listens to the plan.
Prospero
Stephano sings out of tune a song about defeat.

La, la, la
Are you ,la!
with Ariel then sings the correct tune and Stephano thinks that Caliban is the one
No
me?
#@%+! correcting hi
I’m not
¡Let’s
Shut up!kill!
No

Are you
correcting me?
Extra activities for Level 1 and 2
These additional activities can further develop the learner’s general communicative and
creative skills.

Choose an incident from The Tempest. Transform this text into one of your own
by writing a MODERN TAKE on the content or ideas in the play.

Here are some different approaches to consider but you can come up with one of
your own:
The diary
Imagine Miranda writing about his plans and ambitions and her frustration with
her father while growing up on the island. To transform this further, you could
apply the situations to someone facing a similar situation today.

The police statement

Police witness statements have a very particular form. You could use this to re-
tell the scene with the dogs

The daytime talk show

Shakespeare's characters often have secrets that lead to big problems. They use
soliloquies to get things off their chest when they are on their own. Would a
daytime confession on TV have helped them? Could you throw Prospero, his
brother and Oprah together in the hopes that they could sort their problems out?

The celebrity profile

Shakespeare's main characters are usually upper class. Like kings or important
nobles and generals. You could write about these characters as if you were from
a magazine. You could write about what they do, what their new hobbies or
homes look like and try to help your readers understand them better.

The modern film adaptation

Directors love updating stories like Romeo and Juliet. The film of West Side
Story is an updated version of the story set in 1950s New York. Director Baz
Lurhmann set the story in modern day Los Angeles in his 1996 film.
Try to do something similar with the Tempest. Where and when would you set it?
Outline the plot.