Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Opinion

To the Editor:

Poetry & Art

Classified Ads

Back Issues

Blogs

"Shakespeare's Journey:" too much drama

Maya Lazaro
The Commuter

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The cast of "Shakespeare's Journey" Photo courtesy of Maya Lazaro.

While “Shakespeare’s Journey” provides a thrilling escape into the life of one of the world’s greatest playwrights, it devotes too much of the show to drama and not enough to comedy, and errs on the side of inaccurate. Put on by the OSU University Theatre, the performance employs humor, drama, and a wonderful a cappella quartet to show both Shakespeare’s struggles and triumphs.

Highlights of the play include music sung by the Madrigals, a group of four student singers (Marissa Addicott, Josh Randall, Katie Wolf, and Zeke Pitney) who help narrate the play with beautiful songs, and rousing scenes where actors Will Kempe (played by L.B. Hind, whose performance stole the show) and Nicholas Tooley (Robert LaFever) humor the audience with clever puns and raunchy quips worthy of the real Shakespeare’s approval.

The emotional center of the play lies in the rocky marriage between Shakespeare (played by Bryan Bernart) and his wife Anne (played by Maarika Teose). Anne is a particularly sympathetic character during the play as she struggles to raise a family alone to the disapproval of the local church while her husband conducts an illicit affair with The Dark Lady (Anastasia Bumbar).

However, it is in this marital drama the play loses some of its appeal. While the play is cleverly written in a sort of “Shakespeare for Dummies” style, it doesn’t seem to have a clear direction. Although the production has many of the elements of tragedy (the loss of Shakespeare’s son, an arranged marriage, the dissolving relationship between a husband and wife), the play ends with Shakespeare and Anne finally beginning to mend their relationship, which as a happy ending would mark the play as a comedy. Unfortunately, while it’s unrealistic to assume Shakespeare’s life could play out as a comedy, the production doesn’t use enough humor to keep the audience from being overwhelmed by the play’s heaviness.

The play also ends during a brief time of peace between Shakespeare and his wife, giving audience members who know little of the playwright’s life the impression that their relationship problems resolve themselves. Historically, things ended unhappily; Shakespeare died leaving his wife nothing in his will except for the “second best bed.”

Overall, the play is a thoughtful, interesting look at Shakespeare’s life with some fantastic acting performances and lovely music, but if you’re looking for something light and comical or meticulously accurate in detail, you may want to skip out on this one.

The play runs from May 7-9 and May 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. in Withycombe Hall. Tickets are available online and at the OSU Theatre Box Office in Withycombe Hall.
While “Shakespeare’s Journey” provides a thrilling escape into the life of one of the world’s greatest playwrights, it devotes too much of the show to drama and not enough to comedy, and errs on the side of inaccurate. Put on by the OSU University Theatre, the performance employs humor, drama, and a wonderful a cappella quartet to show both Shakespeare’s struggles and triumphs.

Highlights of the play include music sung by the Madrigals, a group of four student singers (Marissa Addicott, Josh Randall, Katie Wolf, and Zeke Pitney) who help narrate the play with beautiful songs, and rousing scenes where actors Will Kempe (played by L.B. Hind, whose performance stole the show) and Nicholas Tooley (Robert LaFever) humor the audience with clever puns and raunchy quips worthy of the real Shakespeare’s approval.

The emotional center of the play lies in the rocky marriage between Shakespeare (played by Bryan Bernart) and his wife Anne (played by Maarika Teose). Anne is a particularly sympathetic character during the play as she struggles to raise a family alone to the disapproval of the local church while her husband conducts an illicit affair with The Dark Lady (Anastasia Bumbar).

However, it is in this marital drama the play loses some of its appeal. While the play is cleverly written in a sort of “Shakespeare for Dummies” style, it doesn’t seem to have a clear direction. Although the production has many of the elements of tragedy (the loss of Shakespeare’s son, an arranged marriage, the dissolving relationship between a husband and wife), the play ends with Shakespeare and Anne finally beginning to mend their relationship, which as a happy ending would mark the play as a comedy. Unfortunately, while it’s unrealistic to assume Shakespeare’s life could play out as a comedy, the production doesn’t use enough humor to keep the audience from being overwhelmed by the play’s heaviness.

The play also ends during a brief time of peace between Shakespeare and his wife, giving audience members who know little of the playwright’s life the impression that their relationship problems resolve themselves. Historically, things ended unhappily; Shakespeare died leaving his wife nothing in his will except for the “second best bed.”

Overall, the play is a thoughtful, interesting look at Shakespeare’s life with some fantastic acting performances and lovely music, but if you’re looking for something light and comical or meticulously accurate in detail, you may want to skip out on this one.

The play runs from May 7-9 and May 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. in Withycombe Hall. Tickets are available online and at the OSU Theatre Box Office in Withycombe Hall.

Comment

Commenting is closed for this article.