Ben Fletcher-Watson
@bfletcherwatson.bsky.social
Drama researcher in theatre for babies & relaxed performance. Deputy Director of IASH, University of Edinburgh. Trustee of Newcastle Theatre Royal. He/him
Bill helped me find some images from the production, including Caliban's submerged tank shown above, and this picture of the superb galleon in action.
![The galleon from Neville Coghill's 1949 Tempest, "made of punts strapped together with the superstructure of the galleon built on top of them. It was poled along by among others Tom Chitty the novelist [Sir Thomas Willes Chitty, 3rd Baronet (born 1926), better known as Thomas Hinde]."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vbkz3bfhrucwtfq7ujm3ohno/bafkreiadtwr4muf3mgymmicmgbbfaiul35rxsjjsiiir4cs3rdeyqrwhqm@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Bill helped me find some images from the production, including Caliban's submerged tank shown above, and this picture of the superb galleon in action.
He even included a map!
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
He even included a map!
But one more letter arrived, from Bill Gaskill, and all fell into place (as you might expect from such a keen-eyed director).
![Dear Mr Fletcher-Watson,
Memories are fallible at all times but this is my recollection.
The duckboards just beneath the surface of the lake on which Ariel ran out across the water were roughly parallel to the audience [“halfway back”, handwritten]. Only the figure was lit from the side so the illusion of running on the water was very convincing. Charles then ran back to the path on the side of the lake and followed the curve of the path which led to the ramp at the back. This was built on scaffolding but how this was masked from the audience I don’t know. Charles ran up the ramp, again lit from the side and as he waved his last farewell the firework exploded and the other lights went out. I add a rough plan as I remember it.
The boat on which we sailed away was made of punts strapped together with the superstructure of the galleon built on top of them. It was poled along by among others Tom Chitty the novelist. All the goddesses arrived by punts – one was Mary? Galbraith who wrote about it in the Oxford magazine not all that long ago with photos from the Tatler of 1949. I think I have both these; if you are in London I could show you. Caliban came out of a tank set into the lake.
Other people connected with the production including Charles were at a celebration with us to mark the fiftieth anniversary in 1999. I suppose some of those are no longer with us. Nigel Davenport, who played Gonzalo died the other day.
Bill Gaskill](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vbkz3bfhrucwtfq7ujm3ohno/bafkreih3jg3clrg7qmejwvnemdqvq53rncf5idlmy25ql4whklkaetghnq@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
But one more letter arrived, from Bill Gaskill, and all fell into place (as you might expect from such a keen-eyed director).
William Becker, a critic and film producer after Oxford, emailed me next:
"Indeed, I did play Caliban (and made my first appearance by climbing out of the lake from a submerged tank) and I remember very well Ariel's dash across the water..."
"Indeed, I did play Caliban (and made my first appearance by climbing out of the lake from a submerged tank) and I remember very well Ariel's dash across the water..."
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
William Becker, a critic and film producer after Oxford, emailed me next:
"Indeed, I did play Caliban (and made my first appearance by climbing out of the lake from a submerged tank) and I remember very well Ariel's dash across the water..."
"Indeed, I did play Caliban (and made my first appearance by climbing out of the lake from a submerged tank) and I remember very well Ariel's dash across the water..."
But he remembered "Ariel running weightlessly across the lake into the distance while Bill Becker, as Caliban, arose from his lair – a tank sunk into the lake at the closest point to the spectators – and waved a farewell to his fellow spirit..."
![[…] My own memory, for what it’s worth, is of Ariel running weightlessly across the lake into the distance while Bill Becker, as Caliban, arose from his lair – a tank sunk into the lake at the closest point to the spectators – and waved a farewell to his fellow spirit. As Charles Hodgson was graceful and fast moving, while Bill was twisted and clumsy, this moment of parting contact, as if between equals, was very touching – as though they were making contact for the first time at the moment of lasting separation […]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vbkz3bfhrucwtfq7ujm3ohno/bafkreihdxupfi74wj27svpirbtp7syv7btghcio2ncu5nwhwtgnanx7uu4@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
But he remembered "Ariel running weightlessly across the lake into the distance while Bill Becker, as Caliban, arose from his lair – a tank sunk into the lake at the closest point to the spectators – and waved a farewell to his fellow spirit..."
Irving Wardle, long-time theatre critic for the Observer, Times and Independent, told me he was cast "in the dance of the sunburnt sicklemen [probably Act 4's masque] but my tutor intervened and put a stop to it as I'd already wasted too much time on univ theatricals."
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Irving Wardle, long-time theatre critic for the Observer, Times and Independent, told me he was cast "in the dance of the sunburnt sicklemen [probably Act 4's masque] but my tutor intervened and put a stop to it as I'd already wasted too much time on univ theatricals."
Coghill himself re-used the effect of walking on water for a 1962 Midsummer Night's Dream, an image of which appears in his Festschrift. So how was it first done?
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Coghill himself re-used the effect of walking on water for a 1962 Midsummer Night's Dream, an image of which appears in his Festschrift. So how was it first done?
William, Nash, Hodgson, Schlesinger, Davenport and May had all died. Chitty passed away just before my letter arrived, but Lady Chitty kindly replied.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
William, Nash, Hodgson, Schlesinger, Davenport and May had all died. Chitty passed away just before my letter arrived, but Lady Chitty kindly replied.
CAST
David William as Prospero
Ralda Nash as Miranda
Charles Hodgson as Ariel
John Schlesinger as Trinculo
A. William J. Becker as Caliban
Nigel Davenport as Gonzalo
Mary Moore as Ceres
The company also included Bill Gaskill, Jack May, and Sir Thomas Willes Chitty.
David William as Prospero
Ralda Nash as Miranda
Charles Hodgson as Ariel
John Schlesinger as Trinculo
A. William J. Becker as Caliban
Nigel Davenport as Gonzalo
Mary Moore as Ceres
The company also included Bill Gaskill, Jack May, and Sir Thomas Willes Chitty.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
CAST
David William as Prospero
Ralda Nash as Miranda
Charles Hodgson as Ariel
John Schlesinger as Trinculo
A. William J. Becker as Caliban
Nigel Davenport as Gonzalo
Mary Moore as Ceres
The company also included Bill Gaskill, Jack May, and Sir Thomas Willes Chitty.
David William as Prospero
Ralda Nash as Miranda
Charles Hodgson as Ariel
John Schlesinger as Trinculo
A. William J. Becker as Caliban
Nigel Davenport as Gonzalo
Mary Moore as Ceres
The company also included Bill Gaskill, Jack May, and Sir Thomas Willes Chitty.
When I wrote to Stoppard, he was very clear that "I’m afraid I wasn’t there. Peter Wood (director, now retired) described it to me... The way he described it, Ariel ran across the water towards the opposite shore where the dusk swallowed him just as the firework rocket went up."
![Handwritten letter from Tom Stoppard: July 31. Dear Mr Fletcher-Watson,
I’m afraid I wasn’t there. Peter Wood (director, now retired) described it to me. His address is: [REDACTED]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vbkz3bfhrucwtfq7ujm3ohno/bafkreigp7a4iptn3orqjuk2o5pz633qyd2hwvk2fhfgdbowbvc3wivwkd4@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
When I wrote to Stoppard, he was very clear that "I’m afraid I wasn’t there. Peter Wood (director, now retired) described it to me... The way he described it, Ariel ran across the water towards the opposite shore where the dusk swallowed him just as the firework rocket went up."
Stoppard made this scene famous, retelling it many times including in his 1988 Whidden Lecture titled 'The Event and the Text' at McMaster University, Ontario.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Stoppard made this scene famous, retelling it many times including in his 1988 Whidden Lecture titled 'The Event and the Text' at McMaster University, Ontario.
Some context: in June 1949 at Worcester College, Oxford, Nevill Coghill (1899-1980) co-directed 'The Tempest' with Graham Binns, and a student cast. Coghill’s production has gone down in history due to one particular directorial decision at the close of the play.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Some context: in June 1949 at Worcester College, Oxford, Nevill Coghill (1899-1980) co-directed 'The Tempest' with Graham Binns, and a student cast. Coghill’s production has gone down in history due to one particular directorial decision at the close of the play.
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
Christmas Eve Braydram
December 24, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Christmas Eve Braydram