class="">Caliban and the Witch

Educational NTF

Caliban and the Witch is a rewriting of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a title inspired by Silvia Federici’s book of the same name and the revolutionary texts and speeches of Frantz Fanon, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Ghassan Kanafani. Set in a fictional reality where the power dynamic between white Europeans and people of color are reversed, the performance challenges the audience to confront the deeply rooted legacy of colonialism, slavery, and systemic oppression. In this reimagined world, the Romani people, who historically have never had their own nation, come to power and colonise Western Europe. Prospero, a Christian Romani governor, creates an empire built on the subjugation of white Europeans. Prospero’s mission to spread Christianity and civilise the “barbarian” Europeans reflects the historical justifications used by colonial powers to rationalise the enslavement and exploitation of indigenous peoples.

The witch Sycorax, a character who lacks a voice in Shakespeare’s play, is given “justice” and becomes a key figure through whom we are shown how colonialism and patriarchal structures used witch hunts as tools of control and oppression. At the heart of the action is the character of Caliban, a European slave who represents the oppressed masses struggling against Prospero’s tyranny.

Photo: Orlando Edward