Summary
The prologue to Hag-Seed is an excerpt from the screening of The Tempest that Felix puts on with the Fletcher Correctional players. It begins with a storm, like the original play, but is shortly interrupted by total darkness, confused yelling, and gunshots. The prologue concludes with a voice telling everyone to stay where they are.
Analysis
The prologue serves as a glimpse into both the kind of production that the players will work on throughout the novel to come. Rather than speaking in prose dialogue or Shakespearean English, the Fletcher Correctional players sing and rap their way through the opening scene of the play. Further, this prologue helps generate suspense as the confused shouting from the characters within the play during a storm ends with what seems a genuine conflict arising in the space of the theater. Ultimately, the prologue helps set up the motivation for the remainder of the novel, but it also raises questions about the difference between theater and reality, and to what extent audiences are to remain separate from the performances they watch.
