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The second music cue begins just after Gonzalo says ‘I would fain die a dry death!’ It’s a short, dissonant cue that musically mirrors the onstage action; as the ship falls apart so does the music, breaking down from the confident, clear music of the Overture. Throughout this there would also have been the sound of voices, and the ship breaking on the rocks.

Prospero began this scene holding a staff and a book, sitting on a rock with Miranda at his feet. The rock seat proved very unpopular with the reviewers. Apparently it had a bit of a squeak. Gordon Parsons writing for the Morning Star complained that Michael Hordern (Prospero) had to compete ‘uncomfortably with persistent polystyrene creaks’ — an unintended addition to the sound of the play! Unintended, accidental sounds like this crop up all over the place in the theatre, affecting how the audience experiences the production. For this reviewer, the squeaky rock undermined Prospero’s authority, and gave an unexpectedly comic tinge to the ‘isle of noises’.

Prospero and Miranda are depicte