BWW Reviews: ARTFARM Makes the Case for Will Power with SHAKESPEARE’S ARGUMENT

Shakespeare's Argument
by William Shakespeare, David Murphy, Marcella Trowbridge, and Jean Wertz
Directed by Marcella Trowbridge
performed by ARTFARM on the grounds of Middlesex Community College in Middletown, CT through July 24
www.art-farm.org

Everywhere today it seems that people are spoiling for a fight.  With Republicans and Democrats at a debt ceiling impasse and Connecticut's state workers unions in a life-or-death grapple with the Governor, it seems like the new national pastime is beating the tar out of one another.  With verbal fisticuffs the order of the day, why on Earth would anyone choose to spend a warm summer evening watching an argument?  When the fight is peppered with some of the most beautiful language ever-written and the combatants are an eager set of actors, the prospect is much more palatable. 

ARTFARM, one of Connecticut's most unique theatrical treasures, has dusted off its first production for the company's 10^th Anniversary and in so doing has brushed up its Shakespeare.  Shakespeare's Argument makes the case for why the Bard of Avon still appeals after so many centuries.  Performed au plein air in The Grove on the campus of Middlesex Community College in the troupe's homebase of Middletown, CT, the play is a fleet 90-minute foray into ten of Shakespeare's most popular works.  

With a ten-year history of producing outdoor Shakespeare in the summer, ARTFARM clearly knows its way around such classics as Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and the like.  The troupe exhibits a facility with the language and an understanding of the author's intent.  Rather than a "greatest hits" sampler, the company cherry-picks some of the less well-known scenes, eschewing immediate audience favorites like Romeo & Juliet's balcony scene or Hamlet's soliloquy.  One could argue (as this is an argument, after all) that the plays selected do not dig into any of the lesser-performed works in the canon like Troilus & Cressida or Titus Andronicus, but that could be too ambitious an undertaking of a light-ish summer entertainment.

Shakespeare's Argument has a fairly clever premise:  a professor, a producer and an actor argue over what makes Shakespeare connect with audiences.  The florid professor, played by ARTFARM founder/Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge, believes it is the poetry that enraptures.  The practical producer, played by Annie DiMartino, posits that special effects, costumes, props and sets are what puts the butts in seats (or on the lawn).  The actor, played by Ken O'Brien, naturally feels the performances are what set Shakespeare apart.  The fourth character, "the groundling," played by Jesse Gabbard, represents the audience's viewpoint and tries to keep the peace between the quarrelling factions.  The excerpts from Shakespeare are connected by a series of debates and short synopses that set up the scenes written by Trowbridge with David Murphy and Jean Wertz. 

The play begins with Macbeth's witches circling the simple setting - a blend of boxing ring and castle.  The four corners of the play space feature platforms with flags flapping the breeze.  The upstage wall is a theatrical flat where costumes are hung, entrances and exits made.  There are blocks and boards that are reconfigured to make various locales.  After a short monologue from Henry V, the game is afoot with points and counterpoints made and illustrations offered. 

The first extended sequence, an excerpt from A Midsummer Night's Dream, serves to offer an example of how Shakespeare's eternal language can be adapted to any time period, in this case the 1950s.  As far as examples go, this section does not go far enough.  Subtract the leather jacket and poodle skirt, and it could be pretty much any era.  To truly make the experiment work, Hermia and Helena need to be a little more Laverne & Shirley, Lysander and Demetrius a little more Fonzie and Richie.  This points up one of the major problems of theatres tackling Shakespeare today - they feel like they have to put a unique twist on the Bard by resetting his works into all sorts of odd times and locations.  When it works, it can be wonderful.  When it doesn't, and I would posit that most of the time it doesn't (since we are arguing here), it shoehorns a worthy play into an unworthy conceit.

After the Midsummer sequence, the cast makes stops into the worlds of Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Casesar, Macbeth, Measure for Measure and Hamlet.  ARTFARM's passion for Shakespeare shines throughout and performances vary from right on the money to sailing over the top.  Each actor plays a multitude of roles, even swapping parts and gender. 

Annie DiMartino's Helena is too overwrought, killing the romantic comedy of A Midsummer Night's Dream, while her Benedict (Much Ado), Isabella (Measure for Measure), and Gertrude (Hamlet) are well-played and sensitive.  Ken O'Brien's Henry V and Macbeth are strong and kingly, while his Capulet is performed in extremis.  Marcella Trowbridge makes the case that sometimes actors should not direct themselves when one witnesses her Juliet or Ann-Margret-meets-Lady Macbeth.  At other points, her performance and booming voice are a pleasure, like her acrobatic Hermia (Midsummer) and powerful Beatrice (Much Ado).  Her finest moment comes with her performance in the title role of Hamlet and one hopes to have an opportunity to see her in a full production of the tragedy.    The most consistent and grounded of the cast is "the groundling," Jesse Gabbard who exercises restraint throughout, following Hamlet's own instructions "to suit the action to the word, the word to the action."  Gabbard and Trowbridge's swordfight at the conclusion of the evening exhibits excellent fight choreography by David Chandler.

The outdoor setting on Middlesex Community College's lush campus makes for a breathtaking backdrop and reminds us of ARTFARM's commitment to the environment.  The sound design is effective and the performers are well-balanced between natural projection and amplification.  The production is augmented by a top-notch three-piece musical ensemble that adds interstitial music, background music, sound effects and atmospherics.  Because of the 7 p.m. start time, lightning effects used during the witches' scene were lost and the transition from daylight to dusk left the actors somewhat in the dark until the lighting towers kicked in the last 15 minutes.  Given the choice between an earlier start to take advantage of more daylight or a twilight curtain to make better use of theatrical lighting, I would argue (there I go again) for a later time slot.

In the end, Shakespeare's Argument isn't really an argument at all.  It is clear that ARTFARM loves the Bard of Avon and seeks to share their love with the audience, as they have the past 10 summers.  They will get no argument from me.

Photo by Bill Dekine.

 

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