Reimagining Shakespeare’s <italic>The Tempest</italic> in its afterlife: a study of cuts, revisions, and potential sources.

In this paper, I discuss the influence of commedia dell'arte on <italic>The Tempest</italic> and consider the possibility of a late truncation of the play. This foundation sets the stage for the task of writing my own twenty-first century adaptation, <italic>This Thing of Darkness</italic>. By examining Kathleen Lea's discussion of commedia scenarios and considering their parallels with <italic>The Tempest</italic>, I postulate several possible missing elements including the unfinished revenge plots and the uncomplicated romance plot of Miranda and Frederick. I consider Henry David Gray's hypothesis that Shakespeare cut his own climax in favour of a wedding masque to appease the court of King James I, which adds another layer of complexity to our understanding of <italic>The Tempest</italic>'s evolution. In considering the ethics of adaptation, I draw on Walter Benjamin's model of the textual <italic>afterlife</italic> which suggests that every text has the potential to be reinterpreted and reworked by future generations. I then situate <italic>This Thing of Darkness</italic> as a pre-imagination of <italic>The Tempest</italic> that addresses these criticisms dramaturgically. Through engaging with these potential source materials, <italic>This Thing of Darkness</italic> opens new avenues for understanding both the First Folio <italic>Tempest</italic> and its many afterlives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]