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Modern adaptations of Shakespeare often face a dilemma: to remain true to the original play or to adapt the story for a modern audience? While adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You and She’s The Man have taken the “modern” to the extreme, the visionary Julie Taymor leaves the latest adaptation of The Tempest in its proper 17th century context, but artfully manipulates its themes to raise questions that are more timeless.

In Shakespeare’s play, Prospero, the former Duke of Naples, is banished from the kingdom by his brother and exiled to a remote island with his young daughter, Miranda. A skilled sorcerer, Prospero is able to exploit the natural resources of the island—including a deformed creature named Caliban, and Ariel, an ambiguously formed spirit who creates the tempest that shipwrecks the Duke and his fellow courtiers on the island. With the traitors now stranded, Prospero can at last exact revenge.

In Taymor’s version, Prospero is Prospera—a ruthless female figure (played by the always-domineering Helen Mirren) who must negotiate between acting as a strong model for her daughter, and realizing her long-fantasized revenge. By positioning the character of Prospero as a woman, Taymor subtly reclaims the female experience; after all, a 17th century woman practicing magic would likely have been persecuted for witchcraft. Similarly, by casting African actor Djimon Hansou as the morally ambiguous Caliban, Taymor enlivens the inherently colonialist subtext of Shakespeare’s play. The Tempest is a fresh look at a classic play that exposes issues of race and gender with which we continue to grapple.