I saw two very different productions this past week, both exactly 2 hours and 25 minutes long, Shakespeare's "Pericles" directed by Trevor Nunn at TFANA and "Fiddler on the Roof" under the direction of Bartlett Sher on Broadway. Each were impressive productions in their own way.
"Pericles, Prince of Tyre" is a play about redemption, rebirth and hope. It is full of improbabilities, impossibilities if you will. It is a tragedy and a comedy both. The young prince Pericles successfully answers a riddle to win Antioch's daughter's hand in marriage but discovers their incestuous relationship and the king condemns him to death. He sails off and first lands in Tarsus which is suffering from famine, gives them his ship's cargo of corn and wins thanks from their governor Creon and his wife Dionyza. But he is being pursued by Antioch's assassins and sails on until he is shipwrecked and washes up at Pentapolis. He wins and weds the Princess Thaisa before he finds out that King Antioch is dead and he can return to Tyre. Their daughter Marina is born on the voyage but Thaisa seemingly dies in childbirth and is put into the sea in coffin. The coffin washes up at Ephesus where Thaisa is revived by the physician Cerimon. The heartbroken Pericles meanwhile leaves Marina in the care of Cleon and Dionyza. Sixteen years later, Dionyza who resents that Marina outshines her daughter in all things, orders her killed but before this can happen she is captured by pirates and sold to a brothel in Mytilene where she is refuses to give up her virginity and ends up being very bad for business, converting customers to pious chastity. Confused yet? Around this time Pericles, now an old man, returns to Tarsus for Marina. When he discovers she is dead, he is inconsolable. He dons sackcloth and refuses to cut his hair or bathe but his ship sails on and he eventually lands in Mytilene where, you guessed it, he is reunited with his daughter and eventually his wife. And can finally shave and have a bath.
I generally think that TFANA does well by Shakespeare but this production is uneven. The director, Trevor Nunn, has directed many of the Royal Shakespeare Company great productions since the 70's but working with an American cast has proved a stumbling block for him. Christian Camargo fails to impress as Pericles. He lacks a kingly manor and his costume doesn't help much. He looks like he was dressed in one's great-aunt's old curtains. Some of the performances have weight, especially Philip Casnoff as Helicanus, Pericles friend and regent in Tyre, but others seem odd, especially the Thaisa of Gia Crovatin who looks and sounds more like a Real Housewife of Atlanta than a Queen. Lilly Englert fares better as Marina although she also has a Barbie-esque look about her.
Still, the play moves along at good clip and there is much that is entertaining. So go if you will.
"Fiddler on the Roof" boasts Danny Burstein as Tevya and Jessica Hecht as his wife Golde. This is beautifully done tour de force of musical theatre. It's not on a par with the recent revival of "South Pacific" at Lincoln Center which also was directed by Bartlett Sher and starred Danny Bernstein (and Kelli O'Hara, currently in "The King and I" at Lincoln Center and also directed by Bartlett Sher) but it's irrestitable. You, like me, will probably know every word to every song. The singing! The dancing! That's entertainment!
