'Exploring what is difficult to express...'

So said Kelly Hunter this morning, referring to her production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, for those with autism, showing at the RSC. Apparently it works like this: a small audience of fifteen or so shares in the 'relaxed' acting experience. Participants do not see the written word but 'play' their way into the performance, becoming a physicality and embodying the heartbeat that is the rhythm at the heart of Shakespeare's work.

As a child I took part in a wordless production of The Tempest. I remember being rather in love with a cape I wore as Prospero; I was all sweeping gestures and fierce glares as I conjured my storm. It was Shakespeare in a different dimension and I have never forgotten it. Years of study have perhaps sharpened and defined my love for his work: I can explore him now in terms of iambic pentameter, fragmentation and disruption and all that (and a Gothic element or two!). But that wordless effort of mine from so long ago moved me and remains powerful in a way that I find hard to express.

But that, of course, is what Shakespeare is all about: exploring and expressing what it is to be human.

Ms Hunter, we thoroughly approve!