Category Archives: Shakespeare

Aug 08

ASP Cymbeline Follow-Up

Posted on by

For those of you who loved ASP’s Cymbeline, an event is being held this Thursday:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=229253273784992
“On August 11 and 12 at 7:00pm, ArtFarm welcomes Actor’s Shakespeare Project to the beautiful outdoor stage at Featherstone. Voted Best Theatre Company in Boston for 2011 by the Improper Bostonian Magazine, Actor’s Shakespeare Project brings their popular “Conversations” series to the Vineyard with selections from their acclaimed winter production of Cymbeline.Cast members will perform selected scenes from this beautiful and rarely produced late romance, while ASP Artistic Director Allyn Burrows and beloved theatre luminary and Vineyard resident Robert Brustein host a lively conversation on everything from Elizabethan England to the casting process to why Shakespeare is vital now. This is your chance to learn about one of the Bard’s more mysterious plays from the best of the best.

Bring a picnic, bring lawn chairs, bring your curiosity, and bring the kids. We’ll provide the poetry, the scenery, the expertise, and the bug spray! And don’t forget to join cast, company, and hosts afterwards for a reception under the stars as we celebrate the close of ArtFarm’s third and most successful summer yet!

Tickets are $20 or adults, $15 for students and seniors and are available at the door or at www.ticketsmv.com.”
May 02

Antony and Cleopatra (ASPBoston): To the mattresses

Posted on by

Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, 4/27/11-5/21/11.  http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/season7/antony_cleo.html.

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

Photo by Stratton McCrady

Actors’ Shakespeare Project continues to bring intelligible Shakespeare to Boston.  One of Shakespeare’s most complicated plots of politics and passion, Antony and Cleopatra can leave Shakespeare neophytes confused and questioning.  This production provides a clear path for understanding and appreciation of the text.

The backdrop, designed by Jeff Adelberg, looks like a collection of mattress coils that make up a wall.  This suggestive detail reflects Antony’s decision-making processes.  Antony is caught up in his love and does not recognize the ever-present threat of his fellow triumvirate colleague, Octavius.  Octavius uses Antony’s distraction to destroy the triumvirate and become emperor of Rome. Continue reading →

Feb 13

CYMBELINE: such stuff as dreams are made on

Posted on by

Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, 2/9/11-2/20/11, part of THE WINTER FESTIVAL (also playing:  The Hotel Nepenthe by John Kuntz, 2/23/11-3/6/11; and Living in Exile by Jon Lipsky, 3/9/11-3/20/11)  http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/season7/winter_festival.html

Brooke Hardman as Imogen and De'Lon Grant as Posthumous; photo by Stratton McCrady, c 2011

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

This is why I love theatre.  No sets. No real props (except musical instruments).  Plain white clothing.  All that is left is the artists and the words.  Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare’s final plays, is rarely staged because of its meandering plots and complicated relationships (for a detailed plot summary, go to SparkNotes—really, it’s not cheating); Actors’ Shakespeare Project not only takes on the challenge, but performs the play possibly better than even Shakespeare could have envisioned it.

This phenomenally talented cast of seven takes the multiple plot twists and numerous characters and creates a cohesive and pleasurable fable for adults.   Continue reading →

Oct 18

Set Your Phasers On Stunned!!!

Posted on by

Kate Mulgrew and John Douglas Thompson photo by T. Charles Erickson

Antony and Cleopatra, Harford Stage, Hartford, CT  10/7/10-11/7/10

http://www.hartfordstage.org/shows/antony-cleopatra

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

From the start of the Antony and Cleopatra, Kate’s performance is filled with passion and abandon.  Running in bare-footed with a sword, anyone who has seen many of Ms. Mulgrew’s performances realizes this is not the calm, controlled persona of Kathryn Janeway, Elizabeth Seton, or Janet Eldridge.  Cleopatra is a woman who is one of the most powerful rulers in the world and yet is controlled by her lustful appetite for a man who can never be completely hers:  Antony.  Her strength and vulnerability are played out in her faithfulness to Antony and her jealousy of Antony’s wives.  Her performance evokes lust, humor, rage, sensuality, and pathos that compel you to be drawn into her plight.  The energy that she puts into her performance meets and sometimes exceeds some of the soldiers and dancers and does not stop until the snake kills her.  With the wildness of her character combined with a beautiful long flowing wig and voluptuous costumes, she appears more youthful and free than some of her roles from twenty years ago (if only we all could “youth-en” in that way!).   I hope we continue to get to see her versatility as the years go on.  As for the actress herself, Ms. Mulgrew was extremely gracious after running around for three hours to take the time to sign my program and allow me to thank her for her magnificent performance as well as her previous work. Continue reading →