ogue immediately signals that the characters are panicking, and that they do not have time for long conversations. From the script itself, we can see that there are an awful lot of exclamation marks in the dialogue; this is because the characters are shouting to be heard above the noise of the storm.While nowadays the storm would probably be created using recordings of thunder and crashing waves, perhaps along with creaking sounds of the ship breaking up, theatre in Shakespeare‘s day would not have had this luxury. They would have had to make do with physically making as much noise as possible and hope that it sounded like thunder. Similarly, whereas we would probably use some clever strobe lighting technique today, Shakespeare would have been more restricted. They may have been forced to use measures such as explosives or brightly flaming chemicals. It is also worth remembering that people at the time read far more into thunder and lightning than we do today; whereas we consider it just a case of bad weather, they may have interpreted it in a more religious, spiritual way. Incidentally, it was these sort of rough-edged special effects‘ that led to the eventual burning down of the Globe Theatre.To compliment the hurried and anxious speech, the characters are constantly coming on and off stage; this again lets the audience know that they are very busy. These are very simple ways of conveying tension and excitement but they work remarkably well. The tension builds swiftly during the scene, as nerves fray and the characters get increasingly panicked - the conversation between the Boatswain and the passengers Antonio and Alonso becomes more and more heated; they eventually resort to insults, although they should be pulling together under such circumstances.Perhaps the single most effective technique used here to convey the right atmosphere is that of the cry within.‘ This is when somebody shouts something off-stage. For ex...
