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magidA couple of weeks ago I went to the Hyperion Shakespeare Company's production of Pericles. It was odd: they'd decided to have it be circus performers putting the show on, which was rather like ASP's Comedy of Errors earlier this fall, but not nearly on the same level, unsurprisingly.
So, they played it as a farce, which it is, really, but they also had their moments of unintentional hilarity (a shared mustache that kept coming off on one side, costume tags, migrating accents, etc.). I had forgotten how much I don't care for the play. It starts earlier than it needs to (that first plot bit is wholly unnecessary to the rest), the characters make choices I find unbelievable (Shipwrecked wife decides to go to a nunnery instead of, oh, traveling either on to her husband's country or back to her father's, or even sending a letter? Father leaves baby to be fostered and doesn't go to visit for 14 years? Who are these people?), and too many plot points happen offstage, told to us by a narrator. Not his best work, definitely.
On the plus side, I have now been to the Adams Pool Theater, which is a theater that used to be a pool (there are still signs on the wall about not bringing electrical appliances in, among other proscribed activity). It's a very interesting space, though tricky to find unless you already know where it is.
So, they played it as a farce, which it is, really, but they also had their moments of unintentional hilarity (a shared mustache that kept coming off on one side, costume tags, migrating accents, etc.). I had forgotten how much I don't care for the play. It starts earlier than it needs to (that first plot bit is wholly unnecessary to the rest), the characters make choices I find unbelievable (Shipwrecked wife decides to go to a nunnery instead of, oh, traveling either on to her husband's country or back to her father's, or even sending a letter? Father leaves baby to be fostered and doesn't go to visit for 14 years? Who are these people?), and too many plot points happen offstage, told to us by a narrator. Not his best work, definitely.
On the plus side, I have now been to the Adams Pool Theater, which is a theater that used to be a pool (there are still signs on the wall about not bringing electrical appliances in, among other proscribed activity). It's a very interesting space, though tricky to find unless you already know where it is.