Fiasco's "Twelfth Night" at CSC started out my year on a leaden foot. This is probably the most performed of all of Shakespeare's plays for the simple reason that it is almost impossible to ruin. Well, it happened. I am so unimpressed with this company that was born out of the Brown/Trinity MFA acting program. In an interview in the program, the company founders, Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld,who also are co-directors of and actors in the play, state that they have been "heavily influenced by the work of Cicely Berry and Andrew Wade" who "opened our eyes to the purpose, structure, and rhythm of prose." Aside from the fact that Shakespeare ain't exactly prose, nowhere in the current production is this in evidence. One would think that classically trained actors, even in the U.S. would have more of feel for and understanding of the language of Shakespeare. Instead, the actors, most notably Emily Young who plays Viola, awkwardly gesticulate and punch out their words. The only solace I found was in the musical interludes. I plan to pass on this company's future productions.
But all is well in the world after seeing "Farinelli and the King" at the Belasco Theatre. The play, written by Claire Van Kampen and directed by John Dove, is a sensory joy. Mark Rylance has always been too hammy a theatre actor for me but the part of the manic-depressive Philippe V of Spain is tailor-made for him (quite literally as Ms. Van Kampen is his wife). This is a character of great excess and Rylance plays it to the hilt. Farinelli, the castrato who Queen Isabella introduces into his life to soothe his madness, is portrayed by the actor Sam Crane as well as two countertenors (there are no longer any castrati for obvious reasons), Iestyn Davies and James Hall. The conceit works to perfection. As the singer(s) Farinelli sings his gorgeous arias he is shadowed by the actor dressed as his twin. Melody Grove as Isabella is the queen who loves her husband beyond imagination but is as seduced by Farinelli's voice as he is. I last saw her as the title character in the "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart" at the McKittrick Hotel where she masterfully held the stage. The production design is exquisite and the lighting draws us into the period. I read somewhere that the production is lit exclusively by candlelight. I don't know if this is true but have no reason to doubt it.
"The Children" directed by James Macdonald at the the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is another British import. Lucy Kirkwood's post-apocalyptic play set in a cottage on Britain's east coast in the aftermath of nuclear disaster has already garnered her awards, most recently the U.K. Writer's Guild Award for Best Play. The play which stars Ron Cook, Francesca Annis and Deborah Finley debuted at the Royal Court Theatre in 2016. A couple, retired nuclear physicists played by Ron Cook and Deborah Finley are visited by a friend, Francesca Annis also a nuclear physicist, who they haven't seen in years. As the play unfolds we begin to suspect the reason for her visit. No spoilers here but it's not a happy one. The acting is what lifts the play above the material (which is good but perhaps overpraised). I was especially pleased to see Deborah Findlay in another meaty role, having recently had the great fortune to see her in Caryl Churchill's "Escaped Alone" at BAM, another play with a post-apocalyptic bent.
