Category: American Players Theatre

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American Players Theatre: Christopher Fry’s A Phoenix Too Frequent

When you first read parts of the American Players Theatre description of Christopher Fry’s A Phoenix Too Frequent, you feel you might be about to experience a challenging tragic drama:

In ancient Greece, Dynamene is prepared to die from grief over the death of her husband and has barricaded herself, fasting, in his tomb. She has brought her faithful servant along to die with her (a plan that said servant is not 100% on board with).

But I have taken that entirely out of context and Christopher Fry has instead provided us with a witty understated comedy that plays off classic sources from Homer to Sophocles to of course, Shakespeare! Instead we find ourselves roaming from troubled to amused to relieved…as the somber circumstances play out via Fry’s immaculate verse…to the captivating human interaction…laced with humor in character definition, an absurd situation, and his carefully manipulated clever English! It’s all a delight until the crisis appears when all seems lost. But as with most classics, there is a deus ex machina of sorts and life and love prevail. So that covers the play…but again from the APT:

Here we have the classic “boy-meets-girl, boy-dies, girl-meets-handsome-soldier-in-the-first-boy’s-tomb-while- waiting-to-die-with-her-faithful-servant” story. It may sound ridiculous. And it is. But youth is often a ridiculous ride, and it’s hard to be hopeless for long when you’re on it. Feel free to laugh with them as they attempt to find their way in the literal dark, with a bellyful of wine and all the earnest, wobbly assurance of people dealing with death just as they’re learning to live life. Quirky and Greeky and oh so funny, with a deceptively deep story, this one promises a delightful time

screen capture by Ed Heinzelman: we need darker vowels

Now our story revolves around just three characters: our widow, Dynamene played by Phoebe Gonzalez, her handmaiden, Doto played by Tyler Meredith, and our handsome stranger, the soldier, Tegeus played by Christoper Sheard. These three weave the words into actions that tell the story with complete awareness of the absurdity of the situation and cleanly emphasize the humor in the text. Director Keira Fromm has them interacting in and around the minimal stage with a certain grace…even during the various crises and entanglements shall we say. It works on every level and certainly invites us to stay engaged with the players, the story. and the action. And of course the emphasis on the humor seems invisible until it subtly reaches our conscious funny bone.

And the minimal stage couldn’t be better suited to the action, the deceased’s crypt, benches, and the entrance are all clearly defined and perfectly appropriate to an undisclosed but clearly ancient Greece. Thank you Jeffrey Kmiec! And the blue lighting was dramatic, ethereal, and unobtrusive all at the same time. Something that I wouldn’t have ever considered….so thank you, Jesse Klug!

Tylelr Meredith as Doto: photo courtesy of the American Players Theatre

The opening scene quickly introduces us to the world weary and street smart Doto who gets a lot of the early laughs and chuckles as she lays out her predicament. All worked around a restlessly sleeping Dynamene (how Ms. Gonzalez manages to do this without laughing is funny in itself…Ms. Meredith get a similar ‘respite’ later but gets to do it out of sight of most of the audience instead of center stage! ). So you want to feel for Doto right away and it is a great deal of fun to listen to the rather unique English she employs and the street cred she exhibits when Tegeus ‘bursts’ on the scene! Bravo Ms. Meredith!

Christopher Sheard as Tegeus, Phoebe Gonzales as Dynamene; photo courtesy of American Players Theatre.

And the pas de deux between Dynamene and Tegeus is magic. Not only the language but the dance itself as they struggle to engage and keep their distance and engage while moving about the set. There isn’t even a more convincing scene in Shakespeare! The timing, looks, leers, restraint, and finally surrender to love all works to perfection. Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Sheard amplify those emotions without our noticing any effort and with our full approval. And it makes the coming crisis that more shocking and poignant when it comes. I won’t discuss it any further.

Given the feel of the poetry, the period, the geography, and the story, this is plainly a ‘classical piece’, and more appropriate to this season in particular as it follows a similarly toned and previously presented Iliad and the other current production of Sophocles Oedipus. This seems like a prime central focal point of a ‘Greek’ triad!

A Phoenix Too Frequent runs through October 3, 2021 and tickets are available for the in person presentations at the Touchstone Theatre or to stream online!

left to right: Christopher Sheard as Tegeus, Phoebe Gonzalez as Dynemene, and Tyler Merideth as Doto; screen capture by Ed Heinzelman

you fall easily into superlatives…

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Ready For More American Players Theatre? Two Additional Offerings For Fall!

Beyond their original summer season: The American Players Theatre Announces Its Live Summer Season: The Road Back, there are two additional fall plays to enjoy.

At the outdoor Hill Theatre, you can see Oedipus by Sophocles performed from an adaptation by director David Daniel. Oedipus will run from September 17 – October 9.

For the first time in decades, we welcome to our Hill one of the great Greeks – an infamous murder mystery that has riveted audiences around the world and across time. But Oedipus is not a story that can be defined by its final act, shocking though that act might be. Poetic and profound, it is in many ways the story of us; about how the people we love carry us from bad times to good, and sometimes back again. And at its heart, an extraordinary hero – flawed like we all are flawed, yet brave enough to do what he must to protect his community. Even if it means his undoing. It’s a rare gift to see the Greeks outside under the stars, as they were meant to be seen. Rarer still to witness one that was conjured just for this place; built from decades of the energy that flows from this community. From you, our audience. We are because you are.

And at the indoor Touchstone Theatre, APT will be presenting their second Shakespeare play of the season, The Taming of the Shrew! Taming will run October 14 – November 14 and is directed and has been adapted to a five actor presentation by Shana Cooper.

Ah, the tale of Kate and Petruchio, and how each cracked the code to the other’s ferociously defended heart. It’s a Shakespearean rabble-rouser, held up as the ultimate battle of the sexes. But look closer, and you’ll discover a lively satire about how society tries to bend this couple into shapes they’re simply not built for. Cheer them on as they shatter everyone’s absurd expectations. After all, their dramatic (and often uproarious) journey toward love isn’t just entertaining. It’s revolutionary. A wild and theatrical adaptation featuring the famously combative couple, with three other incredible actors playing Bianca to Baptista, and every ridiculous role in between.

and as always, to see and read more about the American Players Theatre, CLICK HERE!

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American Players Theatre: William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline! But why isn’t it called Imogen?

Why isn’t it called Imogen is what I asked my wife as we were discussing the play that we had just seen while walking down the hill from the American Players Theatre, Hill Theatre.

And the next morning as I am reading her Director’s Notes in the playbill, I see that director Marti Lyons asks in her very first paragraph, “And why, oh why, isn’t it called Imogen?”

Indeed.

This presentation is an adaptation by director Marti Lyons and collaborator Sara Becker from an earlier adaptation by Henry Woronicz. I am not familiar with Mr. Woronicz’s adaptation so I don’t know how much of the original was kept or condensed or where he placed his focus on the play. But in Ms. Lyons’ and Ms. Becker’s adaptation, aimed at featuring an all woman cast, it makes sense the Imogen would be the stand out character in Cymbeline. I will have to revisit the original soon and I don’t remember much of it since studying Shakespeare in college some fifty years ago.

Full cast of Cymbeline, APT 2021. Cymbeline 2021. Photo by Liz Lauren and courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

So, Imogen! Played by Melisa Pereyra presents us with a heroine who suffers it all with grace assuredly, but composure and determination unexpected even in Shakespeare. And Ms. Pereyra moves effortless from loving spouse of Posthumus, to respectful but resistant daughter of King Cymbeline, to tolerant (?) but dismissive daughter to her step-mother, the Queen, to scornful and disdaining of the false suitor Iachimo and her step-brother Cloten, and finally when disguised as a man, being every ounce a page and later a warrior. At every step in the various transitions, we see Ms. Pereyra assume her new role and we can’t but be on her side every moment of the way. One of the highlight roles and performances this season.

Colleen Madden as Posthumus, Melisa Pereyra as Imogen, Cymbeline 2021. Photo by Liz Lauren and courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

An equally amazing role and nearly equally as trying, finds Elizabeth Ledo playing Pisanio, a page who finds himself in service to any number of people. Pisanio is the underdog hero who doesn’t get enough credit in the play, even in the resolution, and certainly not from those of us in the audience. But he is the one person amongst the protagonists who remains constant in his person and true to his responsibilities even when commanded by his master, Posthumus, to assassinate his mistress, Imogen. And Ms. Ledo easily portrays his confusion around mixed messages and the misunderstandings compared to reality but finds a way to protect those around him and make things right in the end.

Melisa Pereyra as Imogen, Elizabeth Leto as Pisanio, Cymbeline 2021. Photo by Liz Lauren and courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

One other actor that I would like to compliment is Gina Daniels! What a magnificent transformation from manipulating Queen to an honorable and loyal Belarius, a former soldier to the King but a woodsman in exile when we first meet him. Although a number of other actors played dual roles, I don’t think the other characters are quite as diametrically opposed as the Queen and Belarius.

Gena Daniels as the Queen. Cymbeline 2021. Photo by Liz Lauren and courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

Any number of writers including Marti Lyons wonder if Cymbeline is a tragedy, comedy, or history play. Although based on historical characters and maybe events, if this were a modern play it would be historical fiction. I leaned toward a tragedy at first since two major characters die, one quite violently, but they aren’t any of the characters that we feel positive about. A comedy?? Well yes, there are some very funny parts of the play and they are often enough that we feel good laughing out loud. So I guess we fall into a more recent genre of tragicomedy!

But we haven’t broached the all women casting yet. Is turn about fair play since men played all of the roles at The Globe? Well it adds to the comedy (quite intentionally). And it certainly brings to the fore the different place in society to which women have often be relegated to by men.

But it is fun to watch Colleen Madden as the Queen’s son Cloten grab her crotch while making risque comments or strut and preen like an over confident rooster. Or Sarah Day portray Cymbeline as a distracted overly emotional old man who is easily manipulated by his new Queen. And of course, Gina Daniels acting as the manipulative Queen! And to have many of the lines about women’s place in society delivered by women playing the male roles was honestly refreshing.

And one of the biggest laughs in the play is when Melisa Pereyra reappears as Imogen disguised as a male page and says (and I paraphrase here); it seems hard to be a man and it seems so tedious.

I imagine some this was intentional as a result of both casting all women and in adapting the play. Some of the lines sounded particularly contemporary rather than the archaic language of The Bard. Bravo to all!

The Stage. Cymbeline 2021. Photo by Liz Lauren and courtesy of the American Players Theatre.

And my hats off to director Marti Lyons who staged this perfectly. It was amazing as one group finished their scene, how the next group just seemed to appear to present us with the next. And the simple but elegant stage helped to make that flow possible. The fact that it seemed so effortless and natural tells me that Ms. Lyons’ suffered over the staging. And thanks to Stage Manager Evelyn Matten and the whole stage crew for making it happen! And being forewarned that the actors would be using the aisles and that they were ‘armed’, I kept my hands and head in my seat!

Cymbeline runs through Septemer 11, 2021 and you can see it in person or subscribe to the AT HOME streaming option. Here is the link to the Cymbeline info at APT! Run time: 2 hours 45 minutes including one 20-minute intermission

Post Script added 8/23/21: This adaptation drops at least a half dozen characters from Shakespeare’s original Dramatis Personae. Other than shrinking the plays run time, my feeling is it helps to focus the story and help keep a 21st C audience engaged.