Pericles Performance Review

 I can officially say that I have seen the most avant garde play after seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Pericles, and I loved it. The play Pericles is about the grief of losing your family, and being lucky enough to find them again. Obviously there is much more that goes into this play than losing and finding your family, but when I think about Pericles, I think about family. When originally reading the program for the Royal Shakespeare Company production, it made it seem that their specific production would revolve heavily around leadership - both good and bad - but after watching their production, I did not really find that to be the forefront of their approach. It seemed to me that they focused more on the loss and reuniting of family. All I could think about while watching act 5, scene 1 was “that’s how you stage a family reunion!” When Pericles realized that Marina was his daughter, I had actual chills all over my body; it was done correctly in my opinion. When Pericles said,

Now, blessing on thee! Rise. Thou ‘rt my child. - Give me fresh garments. - Mine own Helicanus, She is not dead at Tarsus, as she should have been, by savage Cleon. She shall tell thee all, when thou shalt kneel, and justify in knowledge she is thy very princess. (5.1.246-51)

I was taken aback. For a scene as powerful and emotional as this one, Alfred Enoch (Pericles) took the time to give his lines the power that they hold. He allowed the lines to be emotional, and allowed the scene to portray the strong emotions of these lines. 

Though it took me a few scenes, I really appreciated the use of the ensemble as the set during this production. RSC is an inside theater, meaning they have the capability to use large sets, intense special effects, and anything else that would make their productions over the top. That was not the case for their production. In scenes such as the act 2 chorus every member of the cast became the ship, using their bodies and ropes to portray the shipwreck. The use of the ensemble in such creative ways was very effective for me. While they could have brought a literal wrecked boat on stage, they chose not to, and I really respect that decision. 

Another aspect of this show that I enjoyed was the slowed movements and what looked to be interpretive dancing from the ensemble during almost every scene. I will admit that it took me a few scenes to get used to it, but after a while I took a liking to it. It was so different, something I have never seen done before. I found it to be most effective for me in scenes where there was no movement on stage, such as act 5, scene 1 when Pericles and Marina are reunited. The lack of movement on stage reinforced the weight of the situation, and helped to show just how serious the scene was. I can only assume that it was incredibly helpful for those at the play who do not understand old English, and might have had no idea what was going on throughout the play. 

Once again, the RSC has the capability to use large sets and special effects within their productions, but they scarcely did. Because of that, it made the times that these were used incredibly effective for me. The scene that really sticks out to me in terms of special effects comes from act 3, scene 1 following the ‘death’ of Thaisa. While Pericles is alone on stage and holding his newborn baby, rain begins to fall, soaking both the stage and Pericles. Because these special effects were not in use during other times of the show, I was in awe of the rain falling on him. 

Of all the plays that I had the opportunity to watch this summer, Pericles is by far in my top three. It was my favorite play to read, and it exceeded my expectations by miles when watching it. I was particularly excited to see a show at RSC after taking class with Dr. Orvis last semester. After watching clips of RSC productions in class, I was so excited to see what they would do with the plays that are actively running. Let me leave you with one word to describe the production of Pericles at the Royal Shakespeare Company: fantastic.