Review of Cymbeline,

a play by The Fairbanks Shakespeare Company

I went to see it on the evening of the twenty-sixth, and found an enthusiastic crowd of patrons filling the numerous chairs and bleachers to better than half capacity. Many had brought along large bottles of champagne, skinny loaves of French bread and brie cheese to graze on as they sat at tables made up on platforms in the back of the seating area. Not being able to find any mead on short notice, I brought beer and cigarettes and sat in the folding chairs below, noting that the societal rift that once split the Globe theater crowd between pit and balcony was being playfully reenacted by local Bard enthusiasts.

The stage, constructed of artfully stained plywood with an irregular plank fence behind, was a low budget affair incorporating a few timbers reminiscent of both hearth and forest. Its multiple levels created distance and separation where there was very little of either.

Costumes were skillfully constructed and colorful period pieces, and appeared not only realistic, but downright comfortable. They seemed to offset the drab appearance of the set, and the contrast created drew my attention to the players and action of the play.

The play focuses around King Cymbeline, a Britain, and the various members of his court in the time of the Caesar Augustus. It seems that after the kidnapping of his two sons by a traitorous malcontent, Cymbeline betroths his daughter Imogen to his Queen's son Cloten, a villainous ass bent on dominating all around him. Unfortunately, Imogene has fallen in love with a lowborn named Posthumus Leonatus, brought into court as a lad by Cymbeline. This angers the King to no end, and he orders Imogene confined to court, and Posthumus exiled. Posthumus, moving to Italy and the house of his father's friend, encounters the Italian courtier Iachimo, who challenges the chastity and loyalty of Imogene. A wager ensues, and the result is a rousing and twisty tale in which loyalties are tested, broken and reformed, villainy defeated and lovers reunited. "Cymbeline" is a departure from Shakespeare's more popular tragedies, in that it ends happily and death is visited only upon the deserving.

The players were well versed in their lines and the attitudes of their characters, and all acted with great gusto. Especially enjoyable were the manner of the Queen's thinly veiled duplicity, and Imogene's imaginative tirades, which curled the toes of more than one intolerable character throughout the play.

I had a great time at Birch Hill, and will be looking forward to more rousing productions of Shakespeare's works by this local company in the future, and so should you.

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