The Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest premiered earlier this week. See the reactions to Merlin star Colin Morgan’s portrayal of Ariel!
Colin Morgan has been a busy man since the end of Merlin last December, filming an episode of the BBC’s upcoming drama series Quirke and starring in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which had its grand opening this week at The Globe theater in London.
Though the production is still on its first week, dozens of reviews from fans and press outlets alike have been pouring in since opening night on Tuesday, April 23.
As we know there are a lot of Merlin fans out there who won’t be able to go and see him perform, we’ve put together a number of reactions from both fans and the press to both the production as a whole and Morgan’s performance.
Fans of Morgan have taken to twitter to share some of the former Merlin actor’s standout moments from The Globe’s production of The Tempest:
1St half report Colin is a singing, swinging & tumbling god! You’re in for a treat if you’re going to see #tempest at #shakespeareglobe
— Cherryoak (@cherryoak) April 23, 2013
@selinawilken When Colin Morgan was on stilts :) Having to control his balance while delivering that powerful, intense speech was impressive — WhoGirl (@Whogirl20) April 24, 2013
“Colin sang and he honestly has a lovely voice, bradley wasn’t lying ” allonsytimelord.tumblr.com/post/487093461…#Tempest
— Colin Morgan(@Colinwebsite) April 23, 2013
While many reviews centered around the former Merlin star’s performance, others chose to recap their thoughts on the production overall:
@the_globe I saw it on opening night & was blown away! The cast are spectacular & their energy is infectious – an absolutely wonderful night — lana del gay (@silent_cordelia) April 25, 2013
@the_globe – Allam’s prospero is tender and loved Morgan’s agile, ethereal, ariel – his feet barely touched the stage! Loved it! #tempest — Gemma Allred (@gemmaallred) April 23, 2013
In a recent interview with The Daily Mail, Morgan talked about performing Shakespeare and the process of bringing his character, Ariel, to life.
Morgan likened his character Ariel, a spirit bound to the magician Prospero, to a blank canvas and expressed excitement in the fact that he was able to put his “own stamp on [the character].”
Morgan said the fact that Shakespeare’s work has a “feeling of a previous life” played a huge role in how he approached bringing the character of Ariel to life for The Globe’s production of The Tempest.
“I’ve not entered into this thinking, ‘this is what I want to do to the part.’ I’ve approached it in kind of the opposite way, asking, ‘What does it want to do to me?'” said Morgan.
Check out the official stills which have been released by The Globe below to see more of Morgan’s elaborate Ariel costume as well as a few behind the scenes photos from rehersal!
Are you planning on heading out to catch Colin in The Globe’s production of The Tempest or have you been lucky enough to see the play already? Let us know in the comments below!