[NEohioPAL] "Upstart Crow" flies through snow!

[Nancy Cates]

Bard's daughter has will of own 

Coach House drama delves into questions about Shakespeare's life 

By Kerry Clawson
Beacon Journal staff writer 

POSTED: 09:46 p.m. EST, Jan 12, 2009 

Precious little is known about who Shakespeare the man really was.

In Ohio Shakespeare Festival's Ohio premiere of The Upstart Crow, playwright
Vincent Dowling creatively delves into centuries-old questions about the
personal life of the Bard.

Produced at Akron's Coach House Theatre, the play is the second
Shakespeare-related piece that Ohio Shakespeare Festival artistic directors
Terry Burgler and Nancy Cates have offered there since they also took the
helm of Coach House this season.

We know that Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and
married an older woman, Anne, presumably because she was pregnant. While
still a young man, he left his wife and three children to pursue theater.

The framework for Dowling's story is a series of meetings at the Globe
Theatre between Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna Hall, and famed actor
Richard Burbage after Shakespeare's death in 1616. The embittered Susanna is
trying to make sense of why her famous father abandoned her family.

Susanna recites her father's writings eloquently, but she carries a deep
sense of loss for having not known him. By pointing Susanna to specific
passages by her father, Burbage helps the struggling young woman reach a
level of understanding about the very heart of her father's creative genius.

The end result goes beyond just a reading of famous Shakespeare excerpts
ranging from Hamlet to A Midsummer Night's Dream. As Susanna, Tracee
Patterson throws herself into her emotionally charged role, raging through
some scenes and crying like a brokenhearted girl in others.

Director Burgler plays her wise, kind mentor. As their characters explore
the Bard's words, the actors show how both Susanna and Burbage gradually
soften. The skilled players move seamlessly between Dowling's created
dialogue and Shakespeare's original words, knitting together a story of
relationships.

At Coach House, lighting by Dan ''D.J.'' Jankura is beautiful, creating the
appearance of candlelight glowing on Patterson's lovely face. The simple set
is effective, and costumes by Cates evoke the early 1600s.

Dowling knows how to mine the irony behind Shakespeare the man: In this
play, we are told Shakespeare feared that his responsibility to his family
would take over his responsibility to the world to act and write. He is
described as a man burdened by ''too many talents.''

The piece is a labor of love for Dowling, who has studied Shakespeare as a
theater professional for nearly 60 years. The playwright is former artistic
and producing director of Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival (1976-1984), now
Great Lakes Theater Festival. The Upstart Crow originally was performed in
1996 at the Miniature Theatre of Chester, which Dowling founded in
Massachusetts.

With the title The Upstart Crow, Dowling gives a wink to Shakespeare's early
detractors, namely playwright Robert Greene, who insulted him with the
nickname when he was a young actor.

Ultimately, Susanna learns to hear not only her father's voice but also that
of her other loved ones in Shakespeare's famous speeches. That's the biggest
compliment to Shakespeare's genius - that his immortal words continue to
illuminate the human condition.

 

  _____  

Theater writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at
kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com
<http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/mailto:kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com>  

 


 


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