Stratford Festival 2024/Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, directed by Esther Jun, Tom Patterson Theatre, closes Sept. 28. Tickets here.
This Cymbeline is one of the finest Shakespearean productions in many a moon. It literally jumps off the stage in excitement, and director Esther Jun deserves to be showered with praise.
Shakespeare’s canon can be divided into tragedies, comedies, history plays and romances. The latter category, of which Cymbeline (roughly 1609) is one, contains late plays where the plot is heading towards tragedy but is given a happy ending by the intercession of a god or goddess. Magic and the supernatural play a big part in these romances. Some literary folk have called this genre tragicomedy.
Romances are difficult plays to perform because, at the end of his career, Shakespeare let his imagination run wild. They are epic in nature by virtue of the broad sweep of the plot and several subplots, and the varying exotic locales visited upon the way. The storyline is usually complicated and features a plethora of characters with tangled relationships. Cymbeline even has a full-out battle and a ghost scene.
As for themes, they abound in Cymbeline — love, betrayal, intrigue, adventure, nationalism, trauma, rape, family relationships, war, murder, identity, violence, revenge and scheming, not to mention, compassion and forgiveness.
For this production, director Jun has done some gender-bending. Cymbeline is now a queen of ancient Britain (Lucy Peacock) and her villainous spouse is called the Duke (Rick Roberts). Also transformed into women are the faithful servant Pisanio (Irene Poole), Philarmonous the Soothsayer (Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks), and the court doctor Cornelius (Wahsonti:Io Kirby). Women soldiers also seem to populate Cymbeline’s personal guard.
Here are some key plot points.
Cymbeline orders her daughter Innogen (Allison Edwards-Crewe) to marry her step-brother Cloten (Christopher Allen), the son of her husband, the Duke. Showing tremendous courage, Innogen has secretly married her great love Posthumous Leonatus (Jordin Hall), a ward of the court of low birth, which gets the latter banished, and he ends up in Rome. Pisanio is the steadfast servant to both, and is the liaison between the lovers.
In Rome, at the home of his host Philario (Josue Laboucane), the banished Leonatus makes a wager with Iachimo (Tyrone Savage) that Innogen will remain chaste. The wherefores of how Iachimo tricks Leonatus into believing that Innogen gave him favours and her virginity, should be seen and not told.
Then there is the former soldier Belarius (Jonathan Goad), who was treated badly by Cymbeline and in a rage, stole her two infant sons and has brought them up in a Welsh cave as his own children. They are Guidarius (Michael Wamara) and Arviragus (Noah Beemer).
And we cannot forget Caius Lucius, the Roman ambassador cum invading general (Matthew Kabwe), and of course, the king of the gods himself, Jupiter (Marcus Nance).
How these many characters all connect together is one of the complex glories of the play.
Jun has done something very clever with the beginning scene. In the play, two gentlemen relay all the background details that the audience needs to know, but Jun has Jupiter describing the characters and their plights in conversation with Philarmonous the Soothsayer.
All the characters are on the stage and each has a telling physical movement when pointed out by the god. The scene ends with a powerfully dramatic whole group choreography before they leave the stage. The effect is like an extravagant pageant, and beautifully sets the scene for the epic events that follow.
From the very start, the production crackles with energy, and this breathless pace continues to the end. This Cymbeline is one long rush of passion, emotion, fervour, vitality and heart-stopping intensity. It is melodramatic and poignant at the same time, and is performed in acting overkill that works like a charm. Everything is bigger than life, a true spectacle as befits a Shakespeare romance, and Jun has been gutsy and adventurous in her directorial choices.
At the same time, Jun has taken great care of language. Every word uttered is crystal clear, but she also manages to make her actors sound like they are having conversations with one another. We never get that annoying rush of words that sometimes inhabit a Shakespeare play. Rather, these are realistic characters, albeit on a grand scale.
The cast is uniformly strong but there are some performances that deserve to be singled out.
Christopher Allen’s violent, evil step-brother Cloten is an absolute marvel. On one level, he is vainglorious, spoiled and entitled, and his physicality in this mode is hilarious, from the way he preens, flicking his hair, to his perpetual whine. On the other hand, when facing down the Romans, he is a consummate pro-Britain patriot, and actually shows some surprising intelligence.
Tyrone Savage’s confident womanizing Iachimo is a scheming, unscrupulous toad from beginning to the almost end. His overarching ego is thoroughly annoying, and Savage’s acting is so good that you want to punch him out. On the other hand, he is not without courage and humility (but do we really believe that this latter posture is genuine?)
Another standout is Irene Poole’s put upon servant Pisanio. The actor has one of the most distinctive voices in the company, at once honey-coated and creamy. This serves her well as Pisanio is in perpetual crisis mode but has to try to keep on an even keel. Poole brilliantly uses her voice for emphasis and detailing.
Set designer Echo Zhou is also responsible for the lighting, and particularly effective is his use of the personal spotlight whenever a character is giving an aside. Thus, their personal feelings and thoughts are highlighted in real terms.
As for his set, Zhou has created a towering sacred tree at the entrance to the thrust stage which has special lights that convey magic. Set pieces get rolled on and off to evoke Rome, the British court and the countryside. Everything glides smoothly in the transitions.
Adding to the spectacle are Michelle Bohn’s eye-catching costumes which clearly denote place. Ancient Britain and Rome are similar yet different, with the court having more local decorative touches. The Welsh cave dwellers are suitably clothed in animal skins. Njo Kong Kie’s arresting original music is over the top in cinematic grandeur.
In short, director Jun and her fine cast and creative team have come together to render a Cymbeline that is as visually breathtaking as it is thrilling in action.
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