Review: 'Pericles, Prince of Tyre' by CRT

STORRS, CT – Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2020-21 virtual season with PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE by William Shakespeare; I was able to enjoy the performance online on Friday evening from the comfort of my home.

The production was directed by Raphael Massie, an Artistic Associate at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which was founded in 1935 and typically draws a total attendance over 360,000 to southern Oregon for a season of repertory performances. Mr. Massie’s directing credits include work at Elm Shakespeare in New Haven, CT; at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA; and at Southern Connecticut State University. He earned an MFA in Theatre Practice from the University of Exeter (UK), and both a BA/BS from Southern Connecticut State University. In a short pre show video, the director explained that he had re-imagined the play for the Zoom platform as a graphic novel come to life.

“Thankfully, as we have seen over centuries of production, Shakespeare’s work is nothing if not adaptable.” - Raphael Massie, Director, in his Director’s Note

In Shakespeare’s play, Pericles leaves home to escape death only to win a jousting contest and marry a princess. Once he can return, his family sails with him, but a storm separates them, so Pericles arrives alone. Years later, Pericles finds his daughter and reunites with the wife he had thought was dead. I learned from my trusty college text, The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare, that most critics agree that while the final three acts were substantially written by The Bard, Acts I and II were not. The story of Pericles had been one of the most popular tales in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, possibly going back to Hellenistic times, originating in some lost Greek romance. The only thing that I knew was that I had never seen this play, probably due to the fact that it is seldom performed.

Mr. Massie noted in a press release that “Pericles, Prince of Tyre is an epic, fantasy, adventure and this production will live in the imagination. I think the best way to describe the frame would be ‘a bedtime story for adults.’ The narrative quality that Gower (the Chorus character) provides throughout is unique in terms of the dramatic structure of Shakespeare’s plays, and we will combine that structure with puppetry and story art in order to have the Zoom platform work to our advantage and create an enhanced theatrical experience.”

The actors in the boxes of the Zoom platform were effectively moved around to suggest a comic book format, but there were also times when one actor filled the view. The quality of the video and sound was quite good throughout, although at one point the feed dropped out completely before restarting. (Of course, I immediately thought the problem was on my end.) I also noticed that many chunks of the text were cut in order to fit the production into two hours with a ten minute intermission.

Striking additions to the action were contributed by students from other departments at UConn. There were amazing graphics that set the scenes done by scenic designer/illustrator Amber Meadows and scenic charge artist Daniela Weiser and shadow puppets designed by Genna Beth Davidson (with assistance from Ginny Oertli) that acted out the “dumb shows” (pantomime) in the orignal text. The lighting designer was Rachel Schumacher, with sound design done by Emily Adua Nassiff. The credit for the almost dissonant music entitled “Insidious (1)” goes to Yung Kartz and great period costumes were designed by Sofia Perez. At the beginning of the show, some of the actors wore cloth masks.

Two AEA actors of color were part of this cast. Damien Thompson (Hartford Stage: MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM billed as Damian Jermaine Thompson) took on the title role and brought out the perseverance of a character that is faced with innumerable obstacles. Lauren Walker, a Brooklyn based actress and entrepreneur from Washington, DC, was the lovely face of both Diana and Gower; the latter acts as the chorus at many points in the play.

Nick Luberto, a BFA Acting junior at UConn, played the roles of King Antiochus, the servant of Dionyza called Leonine and Lysimachus, the governor of Mytilene. Eliza Carson, a third-year BFA student, played the roles of the daughter of Antiochus, Thaisa, daughter of Simonides, and a pander, now known as a pimp. Tony King, a first-year graduate student at the University of Connecticut where he is pursuing an MFA in Acting, covered the roles of Thaliard, a lord of Antioch, Escanes, a lord of Tyre, and a pirate. Trevele Morgan, a current graduate MFA Acting candidate of UConn’s MFA Acting, appeared as Helicanus, another lord of Tyre and Cerimon, a lord of Ephesus.

BFA Acting Junior Alex Kosciuszek played Cleon, the governor of Tharsus and UConn junior Abigail Hilditch played the jealous Dionyza, the wife of Cleon with a magnificent crown. BFA UConn junior Jim Jiang was both a fisher and Bolt, a servant. UConn junior Jamie Feidner was Fisher 2, as well as Lychorida, Marina’s nurse, and Bawd, the Pander’s wife who is in charge of the occupants of a brothel.

Kiera “Kee” Prusmack, a current graduate student at UConn in the MFA Acting class of 2023 from Houston, Texas, brought plenty of attitude and fun to the role of Simonedes, written as the father of Thaisa, but switched to her mother, and was memorable in the role of Pericles daughter Marina, so named because she is born at sea. UConn junior Nicolle Cooper (CRT’s THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME) rounds out the cast in the roles of Philemon, Cerimon’s servant and another pirate.

“I hope that after this past year of incomparable turmoil that we all continue to navigate, you can find inspiration, and maybe even a little joy, in PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, and that it will help you continue to persevere.” - Rafael Massie, Director

All performances will be presented online, continuing through Sunday, March 7 at 2:00pm. Ticket prices for Pericles, Prince of Tyre are $10 for students, $14 for seniors, and UConn faculty & staff, and $16 for the general public. All ticket prices include a $1 processing fee. Ticket purchasers will receive a link via email allowing access to the performance.

---

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions in a normal year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.