A Romance to Remember

"Stranger, there is no quirk or evil in you
that I can see. you know Zeus metes out fortune
to good and bad men as it pleases him.
Hardship he sent to you, and you must bear it.
But now that you have taken refuge here
you shall not lack for clothing, or any other
comfort due to a poor man in distress."

-The Odyssey, Book 5

Shipwrecks! Incest! Brothels! Battles! High Adventure!!!

YES!!!!!!!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pericles. Producing Director David Greenham, our theater's fearless leader, has been describing this play as Shakespeare's version of the Odyssey, or an ancient Star Wars--an adventure story of the highest order. In the canon its classified as a romance, in the sense that there is both comedy and tragedy, but the characters are ultimately reconciled and reunited in the end. A Shakespeare play (thats not a comedy) with a happy end? Who ever heard of such a thing? No wonder this piece is not done very often: it breaks all the rules.

Which is probably why it was one of the most popular pieces in Shakespeare's day. As for our production, its certainly epic in scope. There is a bewildering number of characters, and except for Tor (playing Pericles), Grace (playing Thaisa), and Clare (playing Marina) every actor has at least three roles to play, with some of us playing upwards of five. This makes for a good deal of costume changes and confusion backstage. Add on to that the fact that every twenty minutes or so Sheila (playing Gower, the narrator) has a huge monologue in which she moves the action of the play forward, and the whole cast is constantly perched at the monitors, listening intently to figure out where we are in the play (both dramatically and geographically, since there are five different countries where the action takes place). In order to facilitate the enormous amount of costumes, designer Jonna Klaiber put everyone in the show in neutral black, layering other costume elements on top to suggest the different locales. When we are all backstage waiting, we resemble a dance troupe, or ninja squad, flitting about in our slim-'n-trim blacks. But the uniformity helps to create a sense of ensemble and also supports the storytelling by making us all belong in the same world visually.

The first weekend of tech rehearsals were pretty madcap, as we all wrestled with our dozens of costume pieces and negotiated the set pieces (ramps and a steel grid that we are climbing up, around and through during the performance). In addition, the first scene takes place in Antioch, in the court of the evil King Antiochus who has been entertaining himself by murdering all the suitors that come to woo his daughter (that he is sleeping with. Shudder.). In order to simulate this, nine of us are behind scrims throughout the stage in all black with grim looks on our face, representing the heads of the recently decapitated princes. It makes for a really cool visual effect (so I'm told) but an awfully difficult time as a Headless Prince . . . since we must be completely still and the scene lasts fifteen minutes. To complicate matters, Maya has a tendency to sneeze as a Headless Prince, and Mike can't help trying to make her laugh throughout the scene. Between the dusty capes we were wearing (Achoo!) and the wisecracking, we were a very restive bunch of corpses which did not bode well for the tension in the scene.

After two days of tech rehearsals, and still a ton of costumes, lights and effects to be added to the already huge show, we went back to Misalliance for our Sunday night performance and after all that headed over to the Grange for Mary's Christmas in July Extravaganza.

Now obviously if you've been reading this blog long, you must realize that there are plenty of parties and scheduled leisure times up here in Monmouth. But honestly, after four weeks of straight technical rehearsals, the mindscramble of Pericles, and the marathon of Misalliance, nobody was really feeling very festive Sunday evening. Mary, our delightful South Carolinian box office manager however, had been planning a huge holiday party and was terribly excited about it. Despite some grumbling in the dressing room: "Grumble grumble I'm tired grumble, Sleepy! Grumble grumble! No want go to party! Me want sleepy! Grumble grumble!" We all figured we should head down for a bit and make an appearance, before we all passed out.

But what did we find upon arrival at the Grange?! An EXPLOSION of Holiday Goodness! Streamers! Holly! A huge paper Christmas tree adorning the wall with silly ornaments and pictures tacked up! Holiday cookies everywhere! Green and Red Jello-Shots! Christmas lights!










And a general atmosphere of warmth and festivity that was the perfect cure for our weary souls.



We had a Yankee Gift Exchange, vodka-soaked grapes (red & green), and they turned the rehearsal hall upstairs into a disco, with your truly as the DJ.

A great time was had by all, and it was a wonderful way to decompress from the craziness of rehearsals and performance. Thanks again Mary!

Monday passed in a haze of sleep and recovery. That night we were treated to yet another party, this time hosted by the Knights at their lovely home about ten minutes from the theater. We were treated to a wonderful buffet of food, a campfire, and a general atmosphere of subdued contentment, topped off with sparklers at the end of the night. Lovely.

Tuesday it was back in action again. This time a full 10 out of 12 tech rehearsal with sound and lights jumping in to help us tell the story. Another added tech element was a dusting of baby powder over all of the headless princes, to make us look, well, more dead. This of course did nothing to help Sneezy The Headless Prince, who seemed incapable of getting through the first scene without a bout of "Achoo!'"'s coming through. But we did all look even more ghastly than before.

Wednesday's dress rehearsal was rough. We were all doing everything we could to make our entrances on time, in costume and (somewhat) in character. The show was clunking along, but still by no means the epic saga of life, loss and love that it was supposed to be. After copious notes from our director Jeri and a rousing pep talk, we went into Thursday charged and ready to storm the boards.

The run went much better Thursday and everyone started to get the hang of the show. With the addition of the music (ethereal, middle-eastern, ambient) the tone of the piece was really starting to come together. By the time Friday rolled around, everyone was poised and ready to deliver this rollicking adventure story . . . but none of us were sure how it was going to go.

You see with a show like Comedy of Errors, or Is He Dead?, we all knew it was funny. Even Misalliance, though long, we knew was going to be funny in parts. Thing is, this show is not funny. Well mostly not. Its pretty dramatic and . . . other. Its that whole "Romance" thing: none of us were familiar with the style. And since most of us had never seen the show before, we were not really sure how it was supposed to go over.

Opening night came:the house was full, we were pumped, and the show went very well. Afterward there was a magnificent spread laid out on banquet tables in front of the theater--our last opening night party--catered by the incomparable Robin Struck. It was resplendent with seafood, exquisite meats & cheeses, and wonderful pairings of fruits veggies and elaborate desserts. A kingly banquet if e'er there was one.

In talking with the audience, the reactions to the show were not what I expected. Usually after Shakespeare, there is either subdued catharsis (tragedy) or smiles galore (comedy), but the audience members this time all seemed energized and fulfilled. The patrons talked about how the show had everything: evil villains, desperate circumstances, sweeping love & bitter treachery; it made the audience really invest in the characters and what was at stake for them.

At the end of the show when Pericles is reunited with his long-lost family, we were told that the play's message was one of the affirmation of the good individual. That if you endeavor to do the right thing, despite grueling hardship eventually you will be rewarded. Its a nice message and a gentle one. Even the reveals at the end of the show, which in any realistic sense certainly push the limits of credulity, are eased by the lyricism and joy with which they arrive. The audience wants to see Pericles succeed and its very fulfilling when he does.

Throughout the summer I have been making good use of the Cumston Public Library. The librarians there, Julie and Jared, have been incredibly helpful and supportive of the work that we do. I was talking to Jared the other day, and he mentioned that although he is a city employee and thereby gets free tickets to any Theater at Monmouth production, he had yet to see one. Ever. In four years of working there. I mentioned that Pericles was opening Friday (and that there would be an opening reception) and suggested he should see it. Imagine my delight when I found him in the crowd on opening night! I asked him how the show was, his reply:

"It was AWESOME! I had so much fun!"

. . . but don't take my word for it. (Levar Burton would be proud).

So there you have it. Pericles, a problem play, has become no problem at all in Monmouth. This raucous romance is a delight to perform and to see. From the bow of the ship to the bowels of the brothel, its good clean fun for everyone.


But don't take my word for it,


BBell