If you browse the summary of Shakespeare's “Pericles: Prince of Tyre" before seeing it, you might be alarmed by what comes up.
Beheadings! Incest! A kidnapped woman sold to a brothel!
All performed onstage in a public park?
Fortunately, audiences are in good hands with the Rochester Community Players' annual free (donations accepted) Shakespeare in the Park production, playing through July 27 at Highland Bowl.
“Pericles” is the weird, forgotten step-sibling of Shakespearean plays, which many scholars believe was a collaboration between Shakespeare and another writer, inn-keeper George Wilkins. An epic about a shipwrecked prince who gets separated from his wife and daughter, “Pericles” is often classified as a romance along the lines of “The Winter’s Tale" (which the company also performed earlier this year).
Director Kathryn Rebholz helms a folksy, storybook version of the play. A multi-level cardboard castle evokes a pop-up picture book (set design by Brodie McPherson). The production features brightly painted, oversized cardboard cut-outs (designed by Lizz K.d) used to represent items including a bottle of poison, a wedding ring, a turkey dinner, and knight’s armor.
This colorful, cartoonish aesthetic emphasizes that “Pericles” is a fairytale. The darker elements feel more palatable, because under Rebholz’s playful direction, the audience can take comfort knowing the icky parts happened 'once upon a time in a faraway land.'
Amidst a fog machine and instrumental music, the narrator, Gower (an engaging Adam Urbanic), sets the stage for this fantasy world. Pericles (a gentle Edward Byrne) has landed in Antioch, hoping to marry the king’s daughter by correctly answering a riddle. If he guesses wrong, Antiochus (played with over-the-top treachery by Bolan Graham) will behead him. Pericles successfully solves the riddle, however, because the solution reveals the king has been abusing his daughter; and the villainous king decides to kill Pericles anyway.
Pericles returns to his homeland of Tyre then flees to Tarsus, where he shows kindness to the starving people before continuing and getting shipwrecked to Pentapolis. (Yes, this play goes a lot of places.) The production differentiates the many locations with clear signs, both literal cardboard ones and more subtle color cues in the costumes (designed by Samantha Barton) and lighting (designed by Chandler Reihm). The horrifying Antioch is full of red and black capes and red lighting. Tyre has more pleasantly purple and blue hues. When Pericles’ wife washes up on the shores of Ephesus, the land is characterized by patterned beach shirts and fishing gear.
The characters are archetypes as flat as the cardboard, but that doesn’t make them less enjoyable to watch. Byrne as Pericles is gentle and mild mannered, and while often morose, an easy hero to root for. He attracts the princess Thaisa (Madeleine Fordham), whose quiet sweetness mirrors that of their lost daughter Marina (Corrina Mullins).
The leads and ensemble comfortably deliver the centuries-old language, although the most entertaining scenes have the fewest words: the rousing pirate kidnapping, for example, and the shipwreck during a storm. The competition for Thaisa’s hand in marriage amongst the knights (which includes juggling and a horse race) is also a delight.
The evening is made cozier with the use of folk music during transitions, adding a bittersweetness that complements the sorrow of Pericles’s separation from his family. In a lovely moment, Pericles wins Thasia’s heart singing the folk ditty “Dink’s Song,” which is reprised by their daughter later in the show. The folk music is an unlikely match for the fairy tale fantasy world, but it works well, adding to the “anything goes” atmosphere of a summer production.
Creating a relaxing, enjoyable show for the audience is an impressive feat for the cast and crew, who faced many weather-related challenges to bring this production to life. During opening night on Friday, July 12 (already postponed due to a rained out dress rehearsal), the audience got a taste of what Pericles felt when he was washed ashore, thanks to an impromptu rainstorm. While attendees sought refuge under blankets and trees, the actors and crew quickly unplugged and removed the mics from the stage. Within 20 minutes, the show was able to go on and the actors picked up where they left off as if nothing had happened, giving Pericles (and the audience) a triumphant, happy ending.
"Pericles, Prince of Tyre" runs at 8 p.m. July 17 - 21 and 24 - 27 (with ASL-interpreted shows on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27) at Highland Bowl. Performances are free and open to all ages. More info here.
Katherine Varga is a freelance contributor to CITY.
Beheadings! Incest! A kidnapped woman sold to a brothel!
All performed onstage in a public park?
Fortunately, audiences are in good hands with the Rochester Community Players' annual free (donations accepted) Shakespeare in the Park production, playing through July 27 at Highland Bowl.
“Pericles” is the weird, forgotten step-sibling of Shakespearean plays, which many scholars believe was a collaboration between Shakespeare and another writer, inn-keeper George Wilkins. An epic about a shipwrecked prince who gets separated from his wife and daughter, “Pericles” is often classified as a romance along the lines of “The Winter’s Tale" (which the company also performed earlier this year).
Related Castaways and cutouts
Castaways and cutouts
To mount a lesser-known Shakespeare production at Highland Bowl, Rochester Community Players lean into the two-dimensional.
Theater
Director Kathryn Rebholz helms a folksy, storybook version of the play. A multi-level cardboard castle evokes a pop-up picture book (set design by Brodie McPherson). The production features brightly painted, oversized cardboard cut-outs (designed by Lizz K.d) used to represent items including a bottle of poison, a wedding ring, a turkey dinner, and knight’s armor.
- ANNETTE DRAGON.
This colorful, cartoonish aesthetic emphasizes that “Pericles” is a fairytale. The darker elements feel more palatable, because under Rebholz’s playful direction, the audience can take comfort knowing the icky parts happened 'once upon a time in a faraway land.'
Amidst a fog machine and instrumental music, the narrator, Gower (an engaging Adam Urbanic), sets the stage for this fantasy world. Pericles (a gentle Edward Byrne) has landed in Antioch, hoping to marry the king’s daughter by correctly answering a riddle. If he guesses wrong, Antiochus (played with over-the-top treachery by Bolan Graham) will behead him. Pericles successfully solves the riddle, however, because the solution reveals the king has been abusing his daughter; and the villainous king decides to kill Pericles anyway.
- ANNETTE DRAGON.
Pericles returns to his homeland of Tyre then flees to Tarsus, where he shows kindness to the starving people before continuing and getting shipwrecked to Pentapolis. (Yes, this play goes a lot of places.) The production differentiates the many locations with clear signs, both literal cardboard ones and more subtle color cues in the costumes (designed by Samantha Barton) and lighting (designed by Chandler Reihm). The horrifying Antioch is full of red and black capes and red lighting. Tyre has more pleasantly purple and blue hues. When Pericles’ wife washes up on the shores of Ephesus, the land is characterized by patterned beach shirts and fishing gear.
The characters are archetypes as flat as the cardboard, but that doesn’t make them less enjoyable to watch. Byrne as Pericles is gentle and mild mannered, and while often morose, an easy hero to root for. He attracts the princess Thaisa (Madeleine Fordham), whose quiet sweetness mirrors that of their lost daughter Marina (Corrina Mullins).
- ANNETTE DRAGON.
The leads and ensemble comfortably deliver the centuries-old language, although the most entertaining scenes have the fewest words: the rousing pirate kidnapping, for example, and the shipwreck during a storm. The competition for Thaisa’s hand in marriage amongst the knights (which includes juggling and a horse race) is also a delight.
The evening is made cozier with the use of folk music during transitions, adding a bittersweetness that complements the sorrow of Pericles’s separation from his family. In a lovely moment, Pericles wins Thasia’s heart singing the folk ditty “Dink’s Song,” which is reprised by their daughter later in the show. The folk music is an unlikely match for the fairy tale fantasy world, but it works well, adding to the “anything goes” atmosphere of a summer production.
Creating a relaxing, enjoyable show for the audience is an impressive feat for the cast and crew, who faced many weather-related challenges to bring this production to life. During opening night on Friday, July 12 (already postponed due to a rained out dress rehearsal), the audience got a taste of what Pericles felt when he was washed ashore, thanks to an impromptu rainstorm. While attendees sought refuge under blankets and trees, the actors and crew quickly unplugged and removed the mics from the stage. Within 20 minutes, the show was able to go on and the actors picked up where they left off as if nothing had happened, giving Pericles (and the audience) a triumphant, happy ending.
"Pericles, Prince of Tyre" runs at 8 p.m. July 17 - 21 and 24 - 27 (with ASL-interpreted shows on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27) at Highland Bowl. Performances are free and open to all ages. More info here.
Katherine Varga is a freelance contributor to CITY.
