THE fifth season of the now-annual Shakespeare show at Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, springs a surprise.

Instead of following the actors around the grounds in a promenade production, The Tempest is staged on an island in Ripley Lake.

A newly-constructed bridge takes the audience across the water to sit in tiered stands on four sides of the intimate acting area. Two platforms in the trees provide loftier stages.

The result, in Lucy Kerbel’s clean, sharp and engaging staging, is arguably the best show yet from Sprite Productions.

It helps that what’s probably Shakespeare’s last play is more straightforward than some of his others. It refuses to be labelled as either comedy or tragedy, being a human drama about a father, a daughter and family betrayal in a royal court.

There are elements of magic, as Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, uses his special powers to shipwreck his enemies and fix up his daughter, Miranda, on a blind date with the king’s son.

Roger Ringrose’s confident, finely-spoken Prospero orchestrates the mix of magic and realism with real authority, while Stephanie Thomas’s daughter is a picture of wideeyed wonderment, as she sets her eyes on a young male for the first time after a lifetime on the island with just her father and Jack Whitam’s wild, wideeyed savage, Caliban, for company.

David Hartley’s shipwrecked Ferdinand suffers all the indignities heaped on him, as Prospero tests his suitability to be his son-in-law.

Kerbel’s masterstroke is treating the role of the spirit Ariel as a sort of Greek chorus, with all the cast taking turns, in unison and in groups, to speak his lines.

As for the setting, the island on Ripley Lake is an ideal casting for Prospero’s island – a perfect match of place and play.