[NEohioPAL] Ohio Shakespeare Festival Opens 2 Gents

Nancy Cates nancycates at ohioshakespeare.com
Mon Jun 30 08:42:37 PDT 2008


Only 2 weekends left (Thursdays through Sundays at 8pm, of "Two Gents"!
Come bring a picnic and join us!  

Go the ohioshakespeare.com, and click on the link to "Stan Hywet," to
reserve tickets online.

 

REVIEW 

Shakespeare shines through at Stan Hywet 

Impressive troupe delivers 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' with delight at outdoor
show 

By Elaine Guregian 
Beacon Journal arts and culture critic 

Published on Monday, Jun 30, 2008 

When you run a theater company that performs outside, as the Ohio
Shakespeare Festival does, there's drama built into your shows. Namely, will
the weather let them take place? 

Luckily, Saturday afternoon's rainstorm stopped, the skies cleared and
Shakespeare's comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona was able to go on as
planned, outside in the lagoon area of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron. 

The play is thought to be Shakespeare's first stage work, and you feel the
playwright's exuberance in this production directed by Terry Burgler,
co-artistic director of the festival. The pre-performance greenshow set the
pace with a rowdy live trailer for Hamlet, coming July 17, setting out the
story with today's slang (dude!) instead of Shakespeare's. But no worries if
that ad sounded irreverent. As fresh and seductively audience-alert as
Verona was, it was still Shakespeare's show, delivered with evident delight.


A simple set tucked against a rocky cliff on Stan Hywet's grounds shows us
the Italian locales where the action takes place. From near the back of the
audience, every word was admirably clear on Saturday. Burgler's cast shaped
the story with a quicksilver energy, honoring Shakespeare with a vibrant,
direct command of his poetic language. 

Andrew Cruse was Proteus, a young man bursting with love. At first, his
affection is directed at his girlfriend, Julia, at home in Verona. When
Proteus follows his best friend, Valentine, to Milan, he falls for
Valentine's girlfriend, Silvia. Given Cruse's charm, it was impossible to
hate him despite his fickle ways. As Valentine, Andy Nagraj had a solid,
imperturbable presence, in comical contrast to his stage-stealing servant,
Speed (Ernie Gonzalez). 

Richard Worswick was wonderfully willing to set himself up as a ridiculous
fop in yellow tights, Thurio, who is destined to fail in his attempt at
Silvia's hand. (Costume designer Jonathan Fletcher, take a bow.) 

As for Silvia, Katherine DeBoer let this heroine shine. She's no fool; when
Proteus tries to charm her, she gives it back to him, laying him out as the
cad he is. You can see the beginnings of a friendship between Silvia and
Julia when the latter, disguised as a man to get a better look at the
deteriorating situation, sees that Silvia is actually an unwilling rival for
Proteus. Lara Mielcarek, as Julia, showed impressive range, moving from a
depiction of a proper, even prissy, young woman to a slightly desperate spy.
Tess Burgler stepped a bit outside the period, a little more casual than the
rest, as Julia's servant, but appealingly believable. 

Timothy Champion was dryly in command as Proteus' servant, Launce, who finds
fault with his dog as if he were human. The play is stuffed with puns that
are evident on the written page but need some coaxing to bring them out
onstage. Champion and the rest of the actors helped the text along, letting
us hear the difference, say, between a tail (visible onstage with an
extremely cooperative dog) and a tale. 

The brief interludes of live music on instruments such as recorder are a
commendable part of this company's performances, but the level of playing
isn't always as high as the excellent acting. Considering the wealth of
local talent, maybe it's possible for the company to boost its musical
level. 

Verona starts the season on a high. It makes me look forward to Hamlet
(starting with a preview July 17) and I Hate Hamlet, beginning with a
preview Aug. 7. 

 

  _____  

Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or
eguregian at thebeaconjournal.com. 

 

When you run a theater company that performs outside, as the Ohio
Shakespeare Festival does, there's drama built into your shows. Namely, will
the weather let them take place?

Luckily, Saturday afternoon's rainstorm stopped, the skies cleared and
Shakespeare's comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona was able to go on as
planned, outside in the lagoon area of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron.

The play is thought to be Shakespeare's first stage work, and you feel the
playwright's exuberance in this production directed by Terry Burgler,
co-artistic director of the festival. The pre-performance greenshow set the
pace with a rowdy live trailer for Hamlet, coming July 17, setting out the
story with today's slang (dude!) instead of Shakespeare's. But no worries if
that ad sounded irreverent. As fresh and seductively audience-alert as
Verona was, it was still Shakespeare's show, delivered with evident delight.

A simple set tucked against a rocky cliff on Stan Hywet's grounds shows us
the Italian locales where the action takes place. From near the back of the
audience, every word was admirably clear on Saturday. Burgler's cast shaped
the story with a quicksilver energy, honoring Shakespeare with a vibrant,
direct command of his poetic language.

Andrew Cruse was Proteus, a young man bursting with love. At first, his
affection is directed at his girlfriend, Julia, at home in Verona. When
Proteus follows his best friend, Valentine, to Milan, he falls for
Valentine's girlfriend, Silvia. Given Cruse's charm, it was impossible to
hate him despite his fickle ways. As Valentine, Andy Nagraj had a solid,
imperturbable presence, in comical contrast to his stage-stealing servant,
Speed (Ernie Gonzalez).

Richard Worswick was wonderfully willing to set himself up as a ridiculous
fop in yellow tights, Thurio, who is destined to fail in his attempt at
Silvia's hand. (Costume designer Jonathan Fletcher, take a bow.)

As for Silvia, Katherine DeBoer let this heroine shine. She's no fool; when
Proteus tries to charm her, she gives it back to him, laying him out as the
cad he is. You can see the beginnings of a friendship between Silvia and
Julia when the latter, disguised as a man to get a better look at the
deteriorating situation, sees that Silvia is actually an unwilling rival for
Proteus. Lara Mielcarek, as Julia, showed impressive range, moving from a
depiction of a proper, even prissy, young woman to a slightly desperate spy.
Tess Burgler stepped a bit outside the period, a little more casual than the
rest, as Julia's servant, but appealingly believable.

Timothy Champion was dryly in command as Proteus' servant, Launce, who finds
fault with his dog as if he were human. The play is stuffed with puns that
are evident on the written page but need some coaxing to bring them out
onstage. Champion and the rest of the actors helped the text along, letting
us hear the difference, say, between a tail (visible onstage with an
extremely cooperative dog) and a tale.

The brief interludes of live music on instruments such as recorder are a
commendable part of this company's performances, but the level of playing
isn't always as high as the excellent acting. Considering the wealth of
local talent, maybe it's possible for the company to boost its musical
level.

Verona starts the season on a high. It makes me look forward to Hamlet
(starting with a preview July 17) and I Hate Hamlet, beginning with a
preview Aug. 7.

 

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