By Kathryn Olsen
It has been nearly two years since Cedar City’s Utah Shakespeare Festival has been able to take place and one of the earliest offerings of the summer is William Shakespeare’s Pericles at the Englestad Shakespeare Theater. This 1607 or 1608 Jacobean play is believed to be a collaboration between the Bard and George Wilkins, but modern scholars believe that credit is due to Shakespeare for roughly half of the play. As an avid Shakespeare fan who has never read or seen this work, I looked forward to a new Shakespearean experience and seeing how the collaboration left its impression on me.
The play opens as Pericles (Danforth Comins) arrives in Antioch to vie for the hand of King Antiochus’ (Todd Denning) daughter (Sarah Suzuki). Unlike her many previous suitors, he solves the king’s riddle and fears for his life, as it describes an incestuous relationship between the two. He flees Antioch, intending to return to Tyre, but stops first to render aid to Cleon (Michael A. Harding) and Dionyza (Kristina C. Harding), the rulers of famine-stricken Tarsus. The play takes a turn when he is shipwrecked at Pentapolis and has no sooner wed Princess Thaisa (Desiree Mee Jung) than he is called home to take over his kingdom. On the way home, his wife gives birth to a daughter and subsequently dies in childbirth. The heartbroken Pericles brings his daughter to Tarsus with the hopes that she can be raised by his old friends Creon and Dionyza. Meanwhile, Thaisa is brought back to life by Cerimon (Aidan O’Reilly)and, believing that she has lost her husband and daughter, dedicates her life to the temple of the goddess Diana. The resolution of these storylines and the reunion of the family are the driving forces of the remainder of the play and the entire thing is narrated in mimicry of Greek oral tradition by Gower (Renee Thornton Jr.).
Comins plays a man at several stages of his life and in different states of control. He is the savvy riddle-solver at the beginning and the resolute father at the end. Pericles’ role demands a versatility of acting so that the disorientation of a grieving father does not make the titular character alien to the audience and nearly twenty years pass between his entrance and his climax. Comins’ youthful joy is enhanced by the tragedies he undergoes and the result is profoundly moving.
Jung as Thaisa rises to the challenge of playing a role of great action and meek subservience. She is the one to take action when her father Simonides (Chris Mixon) gives his blessing to her union with Pericles, but slips into a position of humility as she processes her sorrow over the perceived loss of her family. Jung is consistently striking in her role, but she does not overshadow the part she has to play.
Several of the principal actors play several competing or contradictory roles and Suzuki is the first of these. She is both demure and cunning as Antiochus’ daughter and returns in the second act as Marina, the long-lost daughter of Pericles and Thaisa. It is a remarkable transformation, as she vacillates between fearlessness and heartfelt vulnerability and Suzuki’s interpretation of Marina places her in the pantheon of worthy Shakespearean heroines.
Michael, meanwhile, is the both the just ruler of Tarsus and the ship master who urges Pericles to bury his wife at sea to break the curse upon the ship carrying him home. His strength lies in portraying two characters who experience different kinds of helplessness while still possessing certainty in the right cause.
Finally, Thornton is a narrator worthy of the Homeric tradition. While his recitations are often upstaged by the action of the remaining cast, he tells the tales of Pericles, Thaisa, and Marina with obvious affection and enthusiasm. The character of Gower is based on a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer and the style and interaction with the audience is as engaging as expected.
The ensemble and more minor players are stellar in their own right. Mixon as Simonides draws the most laughter from the audience as a doting father with rules for dating his daughter. O’Reilly is called to render service as a doctor only briefly, but is a figure of genuine compassinon.
This being a Utah Shakespeare Festival, the design and technical crew are marvelous. Scenic Designer Apollo Mark Weaver has used a backdrop to the action that recalls the Parthenon friezes, but is able to use bolts of cloth to denote different nationalities or a setting at sea, Lighting Designer Michael Gilliam likewise is able to imitate a shipwreck-causing storm or the serenity of a holy temple. Lindsay Jones serves both as Sound Designer and Original Music Composer and it is due to her contributions that the stories are tied together with a haunting and heartfelt lullaby, while Music Director Brandon Scott Grayson ensures the quality of the individual musical performances and Voice and Text Coach Philip Thompson assists the actors in rendering Shakespearean English articulate and clear. Fight Director Paul Dennhardt is indispensable for the challenge of the knights at Pentapolis, where Movement Director and Choreographer Jason Spelbring ensures that the audience can feel the tension and panic of a tempest-tossed ship’s crew among other things. The work of Costume Designer Karin Simonson Kopischke not only allows us to know the allegiances of each character, but also allows us to see the mental deterioration of certain characters in their most raw moments. Intimacy Director Caitlyn Herzlinger coordinates how the natural chemistry between characters to flourish. The interactions throughout the play are enhanced, as Dramaturg Isabel Smith-Bernstein distinguishes various cultures with mannerisms and use of body language so that historical relationships are easy to track. Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager Jade Bruno and Kelsey James keep things well in hand, but the direction by Kent Thompson is deftly done.
Pericles is playing throughout the Festival season, so there are many opportunities to witness this sweeping love story. Don’t let a shipwreck or two stop you from getting your tickets now. You will be carried away for an unforgettable evening of true love.
Utah Shakespeare Festival Presents Pericles; by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins
Engelstad Shakespeare Theater 200 Shakespeare Ln, Cedar City, UT 84720
Jun 21-Sep 9, 2021, 8:00 PM
Contact: 800-752-9849
Tickets: $13-80
www,bard.org
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