Sigourney Weaver makes West End debut in 'The Tempest'

By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) - Oscar-nominated Hollywood star Sigourney Weaver has made her West End debut as the magician Prospero in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and said she was glad she had taken on the role.

The 75-year-old actor, known for films including the "Alien" series and "Avatar" franchise, admitted that she had experienced "moments of terror because the theatre is so much bigger than any place I've ever worked".

She and other members of the cast and production spoke to reporters after press night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Thursday.

British director Jamie Lloyd, who grew up watching Weaver on the big screen, said of Weaver that he "never dreamed she'd say yes".

"Something about this project, this building, this play, this role - instantly attracted Sigourney to the project," said Lloyd, whose recent credits with his theatre company, The Jamie Lloyd Company, include "Sunset Boulevard" and "Romeo and Juliet".

The play centres around a female Prospero, who after being exiled by her brother is now a sorcerer living on a magical island with her daughter Miranda (Mara Huf), enslaved islander Caliban (Forbes Masson) and a spirit called Ariel (Mason Alexander Park). 

While Prospero is often played by a male actor, sometimes the character is portrayed as a woman and Weaver felt a woman taking on the role made much more sense.

"In the old days they would… rip this woman away from her position and her life and put her on this island," she said.

"It's so powerful", she said, adding so many women today have "much to express about what isn't fair". 

American/German actor Mara Huf, who is also making her West End debut, said she enjoyed creating a new tougher version of her character Miranda. "I think she's played so often as very innocent and naive to the world. But I think there's so much ... more to her than that."

After Prospero whips up a storm, the story that unfolds mixes romance, revenge and forgiveness. 

"There's something kind of like amazingly, boundlessly hopeful about this idea that from a shipwreck… from… chaos and confusion can come great sanity… clarity… and hope for the future as opposed to kind of dwelling on the problems of the past," Lloyd said.

"The Tempest" is playing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane until Feb. 1.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; Editing by Frances Kerry)