Open Air Shakespeare

 There's an old chalk pit carved into the cliffs at the west end of town that has been repurposed as "The Italian Gardens" and is sometimes used as an open air theatre. We were there yesterday evening for the Eastbourne Operatic and Dramatic Society's production of the Tempest- latest in a series of summer Shakespeares that goes back to the beginning of the century.

There's this to be said for amateurs, that they're doing it because they want to be there and not just because it's another job. There was rather too much gabbling and shrieking and overcooking of jokes and drama but I've seen productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company I've liked less. Someone had had the idea that Ferdinand should be played as a callow playboy in love with his i-phone and Miranda as a moody teen- which is oddly wrong-headed- but there was a strong Prospero, an even stronger Ariel,  a Caliban who was essentially the star of the show- and the magic filtered through.