Theater review by Raven Snook
Fiasco Theater, ever daring, sails straight into the storm of Shakespeare’s nautical adventure Pericles. The wild shifts of narrative and tone in this rarely revived tragicomedy-romance tend to leave audiences feeling a little green. But the troupe's enchanting blend of low-tech story-theater and music make this rocky epic of the high seas sing.
The Prince of Tyre sets out to win the hand of a fair princess, but runs afoul of her nasty father. In fleeing, he launches a sequence of adventures filled with love, loss, pirates and multiple shipwrecks (beautifully conjured with sheets and sound effects). Did I mention incest, sex trafficking and attempted murder?
Fiasco makes magic out of this mess by streamlining the text and incorporating stirring songs by director Ben Steinfeld—who also portrays troubadour-narrator Gower—and adding clarifying prose passages from The Painful Adventures of Pericles by George Wilkins (who allegedly wrote the first two acts of the play). The merry cast of nine, switching characters as deftly as costumes, leans into the comedy, which makes the later scenes of grief, heartbreak and unexpected reunion all the more moving.
Perhaps the riskiest choice in this rollicking reinvention is the multiple casting of the royal title character, who's played by a succession of different actors: Paco Tolson, Tatiana Wechsler, Noah Brody and Devin E. Haqq. Though initially confounding, this innovation ultimately pays off as life-altering twists of fate repeatedly turn Pericles into a different person. It's an insightful metaphor for how the ups and downs of fortune can reshape us all.
Pericles. Classic Stage Company (Off Broadway). By William Shakespeare. Directed by Ben Steinfeld. With ensemble cast. Running time: 2hrs. One intermission.
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Pericles| Photograph: Courtesy Austin Ruffer