Review: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at Marian Theatre, Santa Maria

PCPA's current production, Shakespeare in Love, imagines Will Shakespeare's (Yusef Seevers) madcap adventures in London early in his career. Because historians truly do not know much about the personal life of the greatest writer of the English language, his life is a blank page upon which almost anything may be written. In this play, Shakespeare falls in love (at first sight) with Viola de Lesseps (Emily Trask). And, for our amusement, the course of true love does not run smooth.

The production quality of Shakespeare in Love is outstanding: the set resembles the multi-tiered interior of an Elizabethan theatre, complete with a balcony for Juliet. Surrounding the wooden structure, a panoramic mural depicts the city of London along the Thames river. The colored mural places us as the audience on the side of the river where the seedy activities of bear-baiting (animal fighting), prostitution, and theater-going were commonplace. The set and costume design easily transport us from the lowly world of actors in brothels and pubs to the opulent house of Viola de Lesseps and to the court of Queen Elizabeth (Polly Firestone Walker perfect as Queen Lizzy). The color scheme of the production is done in complementary cool tones of greenish blue and warm notes of orange and red. In this way, the balance of hues mimics the counter-acting modes of comedy and tragedy in the play.

In a plot more multi-stranded than the bard's own comedies of mistaken identity, Shakespeare faces a deadline for a production of Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter. A considerable cast of characters, portrayed by most of PCPA's resident artists, helps Shakespeare transform his clunky comedy into the tragedy we all know as Romeo and Juliet. Many of the notable people of Shakespeare's time appear in the play, including acting rivals Richard Burbage (Erik Stein) and Ned Alleyn (Parker Harris). If you know Shakespeare's plays well, the story can be savored for the way it borrows from Shakespearean material. However, the play is completely enjoyable without knowing Shakespeare, his plays, or his times.

The show left me wanting to go see a play by Shakespeare himself, one richly produced with sumptuous costuming, a big cast of talented actors, and with excellent sword-fighting--like this one.

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