A Noise Within?s ?Cymbeline? Starts 2012-13 Off with Humor, Heart, and Precise Performances
Published: Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
By Courtney Blackburn
?Cymbeline?? If I had to guess, I?d say that sounded like an exotic, older cousin to the percussion section?s ?cymbol??that joyful, crashing musical instrument which makes a living punctuating large orchestral movements and underlining vaudevillian jokes.
Imagine my surprise when I found it was a bonified William Shakespeare play: one of the last four written by the Bard. I thought to myself ?Cymbeline? She sounds like a lovely princess, and this is sure to be a rollicking romance.? How wrong I was. How could I know that Cymbeline was the name of a loosely historical king of Britain? And while his daughter is indeed the plucky heroine, that the titular character is hardly the main character? He (like his young cousin the cymbol) comes in to cause clashing movement: in the opening scene, to denounce his newlywed daughter?s husband, a poor man in all but spirit, and send him away to Rome, setting the plot in motion; later, noisily refusing to pay Rome any monetary tribute, and causing a war; finally, joyfully celebrating with his daughter and many others in the ultimate Shakespearean happy ending.
Pasadena?s own A Noise Within, the critically acclaimed classical repertory theatre company putting on ?Cymbeline?, bills this play as ?Shakespeare?s Dark Fairytale?. While often lighthearted and laugh-out-loud funny, several plot elements are dark: a wicked stepmother, a nasty deception that causes more than one death, a bet that destroys a marriage, and a country in full-blown war. I won?t mention the beheading under that ?dark? category, only because it was a villain and the funniest moment in the play. See? Told you it was dark.
The plot mostly follows Cymbeline?s daughter Imogen (Helen Sadler, valiant throughout, even when led to dispair, and strong as a woman), who is separated from her love, courted by her devilishly doltish stepbrother, advised and protected by her faithful servant, befriended by mountain men, and poisoned by her evil stepmother, before triumphantly overcoming adversity and winning her happy ending. There are skillfully choreagraphed fights, lavish costumes, beautifully minimal backgrounds with striking color to set the mood, and not a microphone in sight?or sound.
Director Bart DeLorenzo, in order to highlight the good and evil aspects of characters in the play, double cast every actor, so each would be playing a ?good? character and an ?evil? character. This choice slyly adds deeper meaning to the story and a chance for the veteran actors to show their stuff. And they do deliver?there is not a single weak performance from this stellar cast.
It is due to Imogen?s marriage to the noble Posthumus Leonatus (Adam Haas Hunter, noble as can be), Cymbeline?s poor ward, instead of Cymbeline?s wife the Queen?s son hereafter known as the devilishly doltish Cloten, that Cymbeline (Joel Swetow, commanding and active) banishes Imogen?s young husband Posthumus to Rome, separating the lovers. The Queen (Francia DiMase, oozing false charm, and bearing a strong resemblence to British actress Natalie Dormer), who plays sympathic to distraught Imogen but in reality is an evil stepmother of the finest and most traditional sort, wants the devilishly doltish Cloten (also Adam Haas Hunter, who steals the show with a giant wig and splay-legged stance) on the throne of Britain. While in Rome, as the guest of kind Philario (Joel Swetow, contrasting his unreasonable Cymbeline), Posthumus finds that Romans like to make pretty vulgar bets on the chastity of their mistresses: nasty Iachimo (attractively creepy Andrew Elvis Miller) wagers that he will win Imogen?s love for the short while, and Posthumus allows him to try. Once in England, Iachimo, unable to even steal a kiss from the pure Imogen, sneaks into her bedroom to secure proof of his conquest?a bracelet, gifted by Posthumus, and a peek at her body.
While Iachimo lords his false victory over the broken-hearted Posthumus, the Queen and the devilishly doltish Cloten try to win Imogen over. They fail, the devilishly doltish Cloten with great aplomb. Posthumus, turning to the dark side in his rage, orders his faithful servant, Pisanio (Time Winters, so kindly and genuine that you want to hug him from your seat), to lure Imogen away from court and kill her. Instead, Pisanio convinces Imogen to fake death, dress as a boy, and travel to Rome to convince Posthumus of her fidelity. She does, but makes it only as far as a cave in the mountains, housing a grizzled old man named Morgan (a gender-bent Francia DiMase, wise as her beard) and his two sons, Polydore (Jarrett Sleeper, whose physicality in fight scenes is impressive) and Cadwal (Paul David Story, unexpectedly tender while being comical), who are actually Cymbeline?s disgraced general Belarius and Imogen?s long-lost brothers, Guiderius and Arviragus. The devilishly doltish Cloten, by this time, has determined that wooing Imogen is getting him nowhere, and the simple solution is to murder Posthumus and then, having no rival, ravish Imogen. This awful plan is stopped by Imogen?s still-secret newfound brothers, who gleefully cut off the head of the Queen?s devilishly doltish son.
Cymbeline enters the stage to insult the Roman emissary, denying Rome any monetary tribute. A war is started offstage.
Posthumus, believing Imogen dead, and Iachimo, being a Roman, enter the war on Rome?s side. Imogen?s brothers fight for Britain. Imogen-as-a-boy accidentally ends up squiring for the kind Roman emissary, Caius Lucius (Andrew Elvis Miller, so upright and dignified as to be unrecognizable from Iachimo). Posthumus switches sides. Britain ends up winning, but Posthumus, wearing that toga, is captured as a Roman, and sentenced to death. Too distraught over Imogen to care, Posthumus is visited by Jupiter himself in a jail cell?and a singular joke about a ?Deus ex machina? enters with him, very visible?Jupiter carries a wise saying to Posthumus, that ?Whom best I love I cross, to make my gift/The more delayed, delighted.? Masochistic as that may seem, who hasn?t experienced greater appreciation for something that was difficult to attain? Anyone? I know I have.
And Jupiter proves to be right: in the end, as Cymbeline celebrates, his daughter is found, his long-lost sons are revealed, Imogen is reunited with her love Posthumus (a wiser man), the Queen conveniently died two minutes ago, and Rome agrees to peace. It?s a pretty tall order to fill, but romances have happy endings, no matter how dark their journey.
A Noise Within?s ?Cymbeline? is really a mash-up of all of Shakespeare?s finest plays: the cheating mistress plotline of Othello through Iachimo?s deception, the king who puts aside his loving daughter of King Lear, the gender hijinks of Viola in Twelfth Night, and the Roman unrest present in the tragedy of Julius Ceasar. But, unlike their original tragedies, these elements come together for a happy ending for all?especially the lucky viewer.
?Cymbeline? is now playing until Sunday, November 18, 2012 at A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena, CA 91107. Single tickets range from $40-$52. Special rates for groups of 10 or more. Info & Tickets: (626) 356-3100 or www.anoisewithin.org.
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