Shakespeare's Pericles - Royal Shakespeare Company on Tour in Chicago
The production was absolutely stunning:
- Its set features dramatic use of ropes (as seen in the CST post below) which evokes a sailing ship for the sea-journeys of Prince Pericles.
- A surprising number of key scenes incorporate masterfully choreographed dance to convey the competition for, and wooing of, a princess to be the wife of the prince.
- The acting was excellent, making the words and lines clear, but also conveying their emotion, and also adding humor and fun.
- The performance also included music in very effective ways! This was not merely pre-recorded, but performed live by the actors themselves.
- Some members of the playing company had to play more than one (strongly contrasting!) role: they switched with seeming effortlessness and brought each new role to life. Even the smallest grunt or whimper was perfectly timed, sometimes hilarious.
We were amazed that the show was not sold out! But maybe the Saturday afternoon show is often not as popular as evening shows? (It is there from October 20 – December 7).
My spouse commented that it was by far one of the top 3-5 shows she had ever seen in her life, perhaps in part because so much depended on the actors, and not on special effects.
In other words, if you're worried that it's too late and no good seats are left, you would be wrong. We were able to get front row seats.
The play feels a bit like a vast fairy tale, and includes a number of themes one also finds in πππ’π‘ππ©:
- Incest: The "incestuous marriage" of Claudius to his murdered brother's widow, and in πππ§πππ‘ππ¨ the incestuous relationship of a king to his daughter.
- Melancholy after trauma (Hamlet after his father's death, Pericles after tragic and shocking disillusionment and losses).
- Kings and Beggars (and how easily they sometimes change places): The "lazar-like" skin of which the ghost speaks recalls the tale of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, as does Ophelia's reference to how "the owl was a baker's daughter," a folktale version of the same gospel story. Pericles feature a song that highlights beggars and kings, and Pericles himself is reduced at times to a figurative beggar.
The playbill/program featured an excellent essay about how the play, πππ§πππ‘ππ¨, demonstrates different forms of government - and how governments can go wrong.
Annette Rubery posted an insightful review back in September of an RSC production of the play in Stratford Upon Avon that looked forward to the show touring to Chicago, which I hope to share soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
Comments
Post a Comment