Stratford Shakespeare Festival offers variety this season

There is no question there is plenty of variety at the 60th-anniversary season of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival; there literally is something for everyone as I discovered after spending a few days this past week in Stratford again catching some more shows.  Let's look at another couple of offerings and see what's interesting this year.

Earlier this season it was announced present Artistic Director, Des McAnuff would be leaving at the end of this season, and his successor was chosen from within this time:  General Director Antoni Cimolino will become Artistic Director for the 61st season next year.  Overall I think it's a good choice, as I have enjoyed Antoni's acting and directing talents for several seasons now, and the fact he is General Director now in no way suggests he is not of an artistic background as well.  In fact, going back over the years I could safely suggest his track record as a director is pretty steady.

So it is again with the opening in May of Shakespeare's late romance, Cymbeline, on the Tom Patterson    stage.  I have seen this play a couple of times before, most notably when Robin Phillips returned to Stratford many years ago to direct it after leaving the Artistic Directorship himself some years earlier.

Cimolino has wisely chosen not taken this Shakespeare play out of context; it is basically set in the period in which it was written, so everything falls into place nicely here.  The limited use of special effects further enhances the production as you are concentrating on the play itself and how it is presented rather than a lot of extra window dressing.  Credit goes to set designer Scott Penner and costume designer Carolyn M. Smith for designing such a simple yet effective and evocative production. Cimolino directs with a clear vision of what he wants and in the process gets some very fine performances out of a cast that includes Tom McCamus as the scheming Iachimo and Geraint Wyn-Davies in the title role.

Davies is suitably regal as the wrong-headed king, who undergoes a major transformation as the play progresses and becomes a much more compassionate soul as he realizes his daughter Innogen, played very touchingly by Cara Ricketts, really did marry for love in spite of the fact she went against his wishes.  Yanna McIntosh is the Queen, who has married Cymbeline to further her own agenda and plays the part with a decidedly nasty demeanour appropriate for a scheming person.  As her son, Cloten, Mike Shara comes off as a bit too much of and idiot and a dolt. leaving one to wonder why parents - royal or otherwise - can't always see how socially inept their offspring really are.  Ah, but therein lies the rub, as Cymbeline banishes Innogen's husband, Posthumus into exile because Innogen was meant to marry the dolt Cloten.

The other standouts in the cast are Peter Hutt as Doctor Cornelius, Brian Tree in a meaty role as Pisanio, Postumus' servant sent to kill Innogen when her husband suspects she has been unfaithful to him while in exile at the hands of Iachimo, who places a bet with Posthumus he can bed the latter's wife with little or no effort.  As Iachimo, Tom McCamus presents a powerfully subtle scene as he attempts to   fool Postumus into thinking he had his way with Innogen; he then undergoes a transformation of his own at the end of the play when his life is spared and all is explained.

The play also features a spectacular sequence when Jupiter arrives on the back of a giant eagle; no mean feat on the stage at the Tom Patterson Theatre, and a fight sequence that works for the most part but left this reporter scratching his head by the end of it over some of the movements used.  No matter, the play is a winner, and rates a strong three out of four starts.  Cymbeline continues until September 30th.

Also onstage until August is an unusual presentation by VideoCabaret at the newly-opened Annex in the small Studio Theatre behind the Avon Theatre (got all that?) titled The War of 1812:  The History of the Village of the Small Huts:  1812-15.  Playwright Michael Hollingsworth directs along with Associate Director Deanne Taylor a series of short vignettes part of a larger body of work that is really a comedy of manners, satirizing Canada's various colonial periods.  Here, of course, we concentrate on The War of 1812 and who in fact won the war.

This is a really different theatre experience that won't be for everyone, but the audience at the performance I attended on July 4th was very receptive and in fact, the small Annex space was full to the rafters for the performance.  Although the play is well researched and written and the eight performers are all first-rate, I personally found the whole thing wore a little thin by midway through the second act, and in fact it could have been a little shorter than it was and not lost much impact at all.

The eight performers each play several characters each, of both genders, all in white face with gaudy costumes and facial expressions more caricature than anything else.  The humour is delivered with biting wit and razor-sharp timing, as scenes change quickly with very few props to go along with the performers.

All the VideoCabaret performers are great, but especially Richard Clarkin as General Isaac Bock, and Linda Prystawska as Dolly Madison and Laura Secord.

The War of 1812 might not quell the debate of who actually won the war, but you'll have fun debating the issue with this show, which runs to August 12th and rates three out of four stars.

July 7th, 2012.