by Bill Beverly
In the summer of 1970, there occurred the unusual opportunity to attend three performances of an infrequently performed play by William Shakespeare, “A Winter’s Tale,” during one theater season: an event as rare as the Transit of Venus. The story of King Leontes of Sicily and his suspicions of infidelity between his wife, Queen Hermione, and his childhood best friend, Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, presented an opportunity to enjoy three interpretations of the same story only weeks apart.
I may have this a bit out of order, but the literary journey began with the venerable Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park, San Diego, which first presented the play in its spring season in 1935 and not since, according to my research. The odyssey proceeded to a theater festival in Ojai or Santa Barbara, and culminated at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco.
So how does a man react when he suspects that his wife is being unfaithful to him with a close friend of the family? Well, it depends on the nature of the man, I suppose. When the man is a character who exists as or consists only of words on a page, then the player who interprets those words and portrays that character determines how he reacts. In essence, the portrayal of the character can be as different as the reactions of the aggrieved spouse in real life.
Other than the wildly diverse interpretations of the character’s personality, expressed through interpretations of the actors, the plays were all staged in essentially the same manner. However, I was more than a little surprised to experience how differently the three lead actors and directors interpreted the part of Leontes. On reflection, however, I should not have been surprised any more so than if three acquaintances had reacted differently to the same circumstance in modern life because Shakespeare gives no stage direction as to how the emotions should be expressed: he only provides the words.
In one version of the play, Leontes was weak, peevish, and cowering as he spied on the alleged lovers from the castle shadows while his imagination ran amuck. In another, he was angry and boisterous, more powerful than paranoid, as he stomped and sputtered while the affair unfolded before him (or in his mind). The third was a balanced and reasoned Leontes who seemed more inquisitive and reflective as he weighed the evidence and labored to reach a rational conclusion.
What I learned from the experience was that the characters in Shakespeare’s plays are not always fixed and immutable, and there is not just one way to interpret a character or portray a scene. So, no, Senor Pirandello, characters in a play are not more real than are we by virtue of the fact that they are fixed and intransitory. It is actually the latitude for interpretation that makes them variable and, hence, more real and more like us, by allowing for the actor to infuse life for the audience to recognize and experience. In such a way, we can see ourselves, our peers, and our world in a 450 year old drama.
This summer, in not quite so rare of an astrological alignment, there is a similar opportunity occurring in Southern California. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is being performed this month by both the venerable Old Globe Theatre Company in San Diego and by our local Shakespeare by the Sea troupe of touring performers. Twelfth Night is a comedy of confusion, recognition, and forlorn lovers seeking their someone, filled with clever banter provided by a series of fools and foolish men.
Viola and her brother Sebastian are separated in a wreck at sea and each presumes the other dead when they wash ashore. Viola disguises herself as a man and lands in the service of Duke Orsino who employs her/him as an emissary to Olivia who he is attempting to woo but who rebuffs all of his overtures because she is in mourning over her lost brother. Olivia, of course, falls for Viola who is dressed as a man instead, and Viola falls for the Duke, who knows her only as a man. And so the fun begins.
My Shakespeare sidekick from my M.A. days and I engaged in a bit of a minor marathon attending the Balboa Park performance on Friday, June 23, and the Point Fermin offering the next night on June 24. In its 26th season, Shakespeare by the Sea cannot compete with the over 80 year performance history and established funding of the Old Globe. But as for talent, they take no understudy role. With few exceptions, the players on both stages were more than capable – outstanding really on both platforms. I did have favorites in both, but do not intend to offer judgment by comparison; I leave that to you. Everybody gets an ‘Antonio’ from me, however, I can not refrain from remarking that both Violas were outstanding.
In the case of these two presentations, the difference was not in the character interpretations. That is true, primarily, I think, due to the fact that in a comedy of confusion and linguistic repartee, the story is in the devices and not the emotions or interiors. Instead, the differences were found in other aspects of the presentation.
San Diego provided an expansive set with a rotating square platform which provided four separate mini stages within a stage, so that there was continuous visual variety and room for much movement by the players, creating opportunity to frolic. The Shakespeare by the Sea setting was compact and efficient, so that the attention was focused on the action through the language. This is not by any means a criticism. Considering that one is a fixed nightly production and the other is a roving band in which the performers assemble and break down the stage nightly, this is to be expected.
As to the direction, the Old Globe presentation, directed by Kathleen Marshall, is more choreographed than directed and she takes full advantage of the expansive space. It is presented almost as a series of dances with players engaging with one another physically in terpsichorean ways, and it is both polished and satisfying.
The Shakespeare by the Sea version, directed by veteran Patrick West, invokes another and unexpected form of interpretation. He was creatively daring enough to restructure the order of the play to combine scenes that are not actually sequential in the published versions in order to give the audience a better understanding of relationships and events. This manipulation makes perfect sense for a play that may be confusing at first to those unfamiliar with the plot. I can only say that it was a touch of brilliance because even one who has seen the play seven or eight times benefitted from the rearrangement. I could go on with praise for both programs, but I won’t.
Too many think of Shakespeare as rigid, formal, dusty and dead, but as these performances demonstrate, the plays are anything or everything but that. They are relevant today because they touch aspects of human existence and emotional experience that transcend time. Why not discover for yourself some of the ways in which Shakespeare can be fresh, alive, and provide latitude for creativity.
Do your own comparison, and learn more about why Shakespeare is a living medium. Even if you cannot make the trip south, at least pack a picnic and treat yourself to the Shakespeare by the Sea performances at Valley Park in Hermosa Beach on Thursday, July 13; at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach on Thursday, July 20: in Hesse Park in Rancho Palos Verdes on July 9; and at Wilson in Torrance on July 29. Shows are at 7 p.m. Also being offered currently by SBTS is “Hamlet” on alternating dates, while the Old Globe presents “The Merry Wives of Windsor” later this summer. A schedule and other information can be found at shakespearebythesea.org. ER
