{"id":19674,"date":"2015-07-08T19:06:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T02:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=19674"},"modified":"2015-08-11T12:26:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T19:26:27","slug":"cymbeline-marin-shakespeare-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/cymbeline-marin-shakespeare-company\/","title":{"rendered":"“Cymbeline” – Marin Shakespeare Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Abbott as Cymbeline, Rod Gnapp as Belarius, with Zack Purdy and Patrick St. John as the Princes with Jed Pirario as Pisanio.<\/em><\/p>\n

William Shakespeare\u2019s Cymbeline<\/em>, Marin Shakespeare Company.<\/p>\n

Directed and adapted by Robert Currier, with a cast of thousands- no, not really. No one really knows much about\u00a0Cymbeline<\/em>, Shakespearse\u2019s convoluted rom-com (in today\u2019s parlance), except that it\u2019s alleged to be one of his last plays.\u00a0 It is believed to have been written in 16ll and to echo the Bard\u2019s own coming to terms with his family as he approaches his final act. Director Robert Currier has effectively trimmed the play to a manageable couple of hours and still maintain its coherence, continuity and major and minor plot twists.\u00a0 To his credit as well is his clever incorporation of contemporary tropes, such as Nat Curries\u2019 additional lyrics to Brooks\u2019s and Warner\u2019s \u201cThat\u2019s Amore.\u201d Another that elicited delightful laughter from the audience was Rod Gnapp\u2019s (the leader of the uncouth Mountain Folk of Wales, Belarius) deliberate breaking of the fourth wall to clarify the multiple names for his \u201cadopted\u201d sons to help us make sense of the confusion. \u00a0The play is upbeat and never loses our interest thanks to the actors who maintain high energy throughout.\u00a0 Kudos to composer Billie Cox for her musical adaptations from Shakespeare\u2019s lyrics as well as original compositions.\u00a0 She created lovely musical interludes in the style of the era, everything from romantic ballads, a rock tune played on a ukulele no less; a madrigal, a monologue mimicking Gibert and Sullivan; an Irish dirge and a jaunty woodsman tune.\u00a0 Cox also designed the sound for the outdoor arena, enabling us to hear every word and song lyric.<\/p>\n

Cymbeline is the bellicose King of the Britons, beautifully played by a believable, heavily-bearded Paul Abbott.\u00a0 Cymbeline ruled when Rome occupied Briton and battles were still being fought over payment of the tribute owed Rome. His daughter and only heir is Imogen (a sweet yet strong and determined Stella Heath).\u00a0\u00a0 In order to ensure that she will stop at nothing to attain her goal, she at one point disguises herself as a boy.\u00a0 Cymbeline\u2019s (nameless) narcissistic and perfidious Queen (Lee Fitzpatrick) had a son (from a previous marriage?), Cloten (Thomas Gorrebeeck).\u00a0\u00a0 He is spoiled and self-indulgent, a dandy with shoulder-length blond locks.\u00a0 He swans about on stage flipping those locks, seeing himself as the proverbial God\u2019s gift, yet cannot understand why he\u2019s rebuffed!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Thomas Gorrebeeck as Cloten and Lee Fitzpatrick as his mother, the Queen<\/em><\/p>\n

The plot begins to confuse when it is revealed that Imogen had two brothers who were kidnapped as infants by Belarius, from Cymbeline and their mother.\u00a0 We meet him and his charges near play\u2019s end.\u00a0 The boys, Guiderius, known as Polydore (Zack Purdy) and Arviragus, known as Cadwall (Patrick St. John) are now twenty-something strapping mountain dudes in their own right, but innocent of their rightful heritage.\u00a0 They leap agiley about the mountain set created by set designer Jackson Currier.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s Posthumus, a poor orphan, raised by Cymbeline.\u00a0 He\u2019s shy thus non-assertive and hopelessly in love with Imogen. Actor Thomas Gorrebeeck plays both Cloten and Posthumus, two totally different characters.\u00a0 Unless you followed the cast list, you\u2019d never know this, which attests to the actor\u2019s versatility. A delightful, expressive Jed Parario, who moves about the stage like a dancer, plays Posthumus\u2019s loyal servant, Pisanio.<\/p>\n

\"Imogen<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 Stella Heath as Imogen and Thomas Gorrebeeck as Posthumus<\/em><\/p>\n

Others vie for Imogen\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Davern Wright credibly acts the part of the most aggressive suitor, Iachimo, rightly billed as \u201ca smarmy\u201d Italian.\u00a0 His cohort played by Zack Purdy is Philario; in the mix is a Frenchman played by Rafael Sebastian.\u00a0 Glenn Havlan returns to Marin Shakes for a third season after a successful run of \u201cTaming of the Shrew,\u201d by Theater of Others in San Francisco of which Havlan is the founder and director.\u00a0\u00a0 In \u201cCymbeline\u201d he plays a musician as well as a rather thankless r\u00f4le as Calius Lucius, the Roman Consul; Xander Ritchey played his Captain. Caius\u2019s soldiers are played by Carolyn Doyle and Isabelle Grimm. Shakespeare most always writes otherworldly characters into his plays.\u00a0 \u201cCymbeline\u201d is no exception: Debbie Durst plays Cornelius, a doctor in the ruler\u2019s court.\u00a0 She is referred to as a witch, carries a wand, and is dressed in a black cowl and flowing gown.\u00a0 Ms. Durst delivers her portends with commanding, yet wry ominousness.\u00a0\u00a0 Lee Fitzpatrick also plays a Goddess (the dead Queen?) and Annika Gullahorn is double-cast as a court gentlewoman and an Otherworldly Mercury.<\/p>\n

Costume designer Tammy Berlin deserves praise for her work in this production.\u00a0 A costume can either make or break the believability of a character. \u201cCymbeline\u201d will play at Marin Shakespeare\u2019s Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, Dominican University of California in San Rafael, through July 26.\u00a0 Go to: www.marinshakespeare.org<\/a> for more information and a schedule of upcoming plays..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Abbott as Cymbeline, Rod Gnapp as Belarius, with Zack Purdy and Patrick St. John as the Princes with Jed Pirario as Pisanio. William Shakespeare\u2019s Cymbeline, Marin Shakespeare Company. Directed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"