Pericles takes the Prince of Tyre on a Mediterranean adventure full of riddles, betrayals…and pirates! From confident leader to yearning lover to seeker of meaning, our hero in this Shakespearean tragicomedy will be brought to life on the CSC stage by the inventive Fiasco Theater, who have previously delighted New York audiences with inspired interpretations of Cymbeline and Into the Woods. The Fiasco Theater ensemble brings music, poetry, and a completely new way of seeing one of the Bard’s most complex characters.
Pericles courses along, always accessible, but it seldom leaps off the stage into something that enchants. An angry sea that sweeps up Pericles arrives on stage as an enormous rippling bolt of blue fabric. It’s an effective, but familiar, trick. In the end, there are laughs, bursts of song, and a sweet family reunion. While it takes a bit of divine summoning for things to work out for Pericles, fine-tuned ensemble acting gets the job done for Fiasco.
Midway through, “Pericles” finds its sea legs, mostly because the action shifts to Pericles’s daughter, Marina, played by the luminous Emily Young. This also signals the play’s move away from struggle and loss and toward redemption and joy, more natural keys for Fiasco, which has always excelled at comedy. The brothel scenes, in which a chaste Marina reforms would-be customers, are sprightly. And the ending, among Shakespeare’s best, is suitably moving. But the chief delight here, as in any Fiasco show, is watching the actors work with such fluency and in such communion, supporting and enjoying one another’s work. That’s not quite a miracle, but it’s reason enough to set sail.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music in a Play | Ben Steinfeld |
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