Monday, August 26, 2013

Stratford Festival offers two solid Shakespeare productions

Just returned from my final visit to the Stratford Festival for this season, and once again, it proved to be a most rewarding trip.  I now have lots of late-season shows to write about before their season is done, so those will come in the coming two weeks as we wrap up my reviews from both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals.  Today, though, two of the bigger Shakespeare productions at the Stratford Festival this season I have not yet had a chance to write about.

Romeo & Juliet is one of the guaranteed Shakespeare crowd-pleasers, and I have lost count how many times I have seen it at the Festival over the past thirty-plus years.  I have seen just about every variation on it imaginable, in just about every time-period imaginable.  But this new production, directed by Tim Carroll, takes the story back to the beginning, as it were, and gives us a very traditional, period-costume production I found to be - with a few exceptions - quite enjoyable.

The first thing you need to know about this production, as Tim Carroll writes in his Director's Notes, is that  it follows the Original Practices idea of presenting not so much an "authentic" production from Shakespeare's time as a representative theatrical piece from the Elizabethan stage.  In the show, they try to take their cues from the actual text as to when actors remove their hats or draw their swords, for example.  In Carroll's words, "to feel that one is getting closer to the mind of Shakespeare and the world he wrote for and about."  Carroll should know; as he spent a lot of time working at the rebuilt Globe Theatre in the U.K. the past several years.

One of those Original Practices is based on practicality from that era:  with no electric lights available, performances would have been during the afternoon, usually, so the light does not change to suit the scenes.  As such, this production plays with the house-lights on and that will prove a little disconcerting to some, and a boon to others who just can't put their smart-phones down during a performance.  Shakespeare never had to deal with that conundrum, did he?

I love the period costumes, making this about the purest production of Shakespeare you'll likely have seen in a long time.  I am not crazy about the proliferation of bells during the show, but what can you do?  They seem to be everywhere.

The cast is a little uneven in this production, with Daniel Briere's Romeo being the constant weak link here.  He looks good, but just lacks the acting chops next to Sara Topham's exceptional Juliet.  She is a joy to watch; he not so much.  Other than that, the supporting cast members are generally very good, although I would like to have seen a little more nastiness from Tyrone Savage's Tybalt.

Romeo's compatriots are uniformly good here:  Jonathan Goad as Mercutio and Skye Brandon's Benvolio; as are Kate Hennig as Juliet's nurse and Tom McCamus as Friar Laurence, whose potions pose problems for both young lovers in the end.

Overall, not everyone's cup of tea is this new production of the star-crossed lovers, but for those of us who like our Shakespeare neither shaken nor stirred, this Romeo & Juliet fits the bill quite nicely.  It continues on the Festival stage until October 19th and rates a strong 3 out of 4 stars.

At the other end of the theatrical spectrum in Stratford this year is Shakespeare's so-called "problem play", Measure for Measure, and this one just happens to be in modern dress.  Again, wretched productions of Measure for Measure abound, but this new production directed by Martha Henry is certainly one of the better ones I've seen over the years.

Henry mentions in her Director's Notes she was part of the famed Robin Phillips production of Measure for Measure he directed at Stratford in 1975, which came back for a second season a year later.  That was before my time for covering the Festival, and I am sorry I missed it after seeing her efforts as director here.

Set in Vienna in 1949, which Henry notes being a post-war setting lends itself nicely to the intrigue, chance, opportunity and "picking up whatever you can in the street in order to make a living", the show features predominantly dark sets, but overflows with lots of nice touches that altogether make this modern-dress Shakespeare more palatable.  There are several instances of pantomime throughout the show that bring laughter from the audience and keep things moving along nicely.

The action of the play takes place over the course of just four days, as the Duke leaves in the early hours of Saturday morning, leaving his second in command Angelo in charge, and returning on Tuesday to utter mayhem.  Henry notes much of the action in the play actually takes place at night and in fact, few of the characters actually seem to sleep.  I noticed that during the play when Stephen Russell as Prevost, or jailer, seems just as fresh and alert past midnight as he was earlier in the day.  How does that happen?!

The cast is very strong here, each adding little touches that make this a very enjoyable production indeed.  Geraint Wyn Davies is quite level-headed as Duke Vincentio, who wants to leave Angelo in charge and then wander the streets incognito in order to witness what transpires while he is supposed to be away.  As always, this masquerading as someone else leaves much to our imaginations, but it works nonetheless.

Tom Rooney's Angelo is abrasive, abusive and just downright mean from the word go; Stephen Ouimette as Lucio is exceptional; and Carmen Grant's Isabella is a standout and very sexy indeed.

Further along in the casting we find solid performances by Patricia Collins as Mistress Overdone and Randy Hughson as Pompey.  I did, however, find Brian Tree's over-the-top portrayal of the duty-bound  constable known as Elbow to be a bit much, given that it borrows heavily from the German police officer featured in the Mel Brooks film "Young Frankenstein" back in the 70s.  It is fun, but just a bit too much, thanks.

Overall, Henry delivers the goods with this new production of Measure for Measure, continuing until September 21st at the Stratford Festival's Tom Patterson Theatre.  It, too, rates a strong 3 out of 4 stars.

Enjoy the theatre!

August 26th, 2013.

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