Matt Palm: ‘Pericles’ has right tone for playful exploits.
Shakespeare’s “Pericles” might have been the “Perils of Pauline” of its time. In each scene, calamity is faced: Incest! Shipwreck! Famine! Murder! Pirates! Prostitution!
But rarely has disaster looked so good. Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s handsome production, directed by Jim Helsinger, sets the right tone of playful adventure. Kat Conley’s set design beautifully signals location changes as topiaries, candles and banners attractively distinguish each stop along our hero’s incredible journey. Severed heads just add to the fun.
Bert Scott’s deep blues and reds in the lighting add emotional depth, and Lisa Zinni’s costumes are perfect for adventuring.
This “Pericles” is part of the national “Play On!” project, in which 36 playwrights have updated the language in Shakespeare’s body of work. Ellen McLaughlin tackled “Pericles,” maintaining the rhythm of classic Shakespeare, and for great chunks at a time her updates work in that they don’t distract.
To be sure, modern verse creates a different way to watch Shakespeare, one in which the language feels secondary to the other trappings of stagecraft. Cleared of Elizabethan sensibility, McLaughlin’s prose occasionally veers toward Dr. Seuss. And some phrases sound unduly modern: “Hush now, children, and let the adults talk,” Pericles’ adviser Helicanus chides sycophantic lords. Later, there’s a threat to “smack you silly” and talk of getting “the creeps” — a turn of phrase that evokes ScoobyDoo more than Shakespeare.
But, by and large, McLaughlin has preserved Shakespeare’s intent if not his embellishments. And the dialogue is certainly easier to understand.
Occasionally the language doesn’t feel entirely in sync with a scene’s tone. After a young woman is forced to work in a brothel, the language grows more starkly repugnant — though performers Lisa Wolpe and Brad DePlanche, as the brothel’s madam and servant, turn to broader acting.
John P. Keller’s Pericles shows a strong emotional journey as his physical travels and torments go on and on. Richard B. Watson emanates grace and honor as Helicanus. Dameka Hayes gives Thaisa, Pericles’ beloved, a delightful sense of inner strength.
Joe Vincent has just the right theatrical touch as the narrator, and the Shakes’ restructuring of that role works well. Greg Thornton is adept at both menacing drama and light comedy in three sharp performances as an incest-committing king, a different — and much more jovial — monarch and the brothel owner.
All in all, it’s a highly entertaining journey — with the occasional language barrier.