“Pericles” a melodramatic morality tale for the ages

STORRS — “Pericles” is one Shakespeare play even regular Shakespeare-goers are unlikely to have seen. Playing at the Connecticut Repertory Theater at the University of Connecticut, this play has it all — incest, murder, passion, fighting, poverty, treachery, and even a resurrection with a touch of Frankenstein.
It is really a morality play of black and white, good versus evil, with Perciles, played by the ultra-fit Michael Sharon, as the virtuous prince enduring tragedy after tribulation, kind of like Hercules meets Job.
At the Connecticut Repertory Theater they use a combination of student actors with professionals, and here Sharon and the narrator, played by Clark Carmichael, fill the bill more than adequately.
Let’s face it — Shakespeare’s language is pretty dense stuff, but CRT, here under the direction of Dale AJ Rose, does a laudable, at times remarkable job of making sense of the convoluted action and plot.
In this play Pericles travels to a the land of Antioch to attempt to marry king Antiochus’ daughter, the king played by Brooks Brantly, bedecked in many red feathers, while his daughter is played by Caroline Gombe.
Pericles discovers the secret that the king is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, and before they kill Pericles for discovering their secret, he flees. He goes to Pentapolis where he falls in love and marries Thaisa, played by Meghan O’Leary. He fights to win her hand in a terrific match against three suitors, wrestling, battling, and engaging in a spectacular sword fight with real sharp, heavy swords, with fight direction by Greg Webster.
Additionally in the same scene the four combatants participate in a rhythmically choreographed piece with wooden poles that defies description, but is intricate, perfectly timed, and incredible to see — choreography by Hillel Meltzer.
Then it’s off to Tyre, but not before his wife dies in childbirth, or at least appears to die, on the high seas. The child, Marina, is given to the care of Dionyza and her husband Cleon in Tarsus. When Marina grows up, the evil Dionyza becomes jealous of her, tries to have her killed, but not before Marina is abducted by pirates who sell her to a brothel.
Here the brothel has a distinct exotic Bertolt Brechtian air, with wild costumes, designed by Sachiko Komuro, and fabulous wigs. In fact all of the clothing would look very much at home in any Star Trek episode.
There are other twists and turns in the plot, but suffice it to say, this is one melodrama to end all melodramas, and this large and capable cast does it’s best to help make the complex and intricate language come to life with larger than life visualizations of what is transpiring.
When Sharon’s Pericles, who really couldn’t be better or more intense, is caught in an ocean tempest, a huge white cloth, like a giant sail, is waved down from the ceiling onto the ground to become the ocean, half drowning him.
Similarly when the narrator, John Gower, naturalistically played by Clark Carmichael, explains that many a suitor was decapitated, we see the heads. Thanks for that.
The set, with its half-moon near the ceiling, and simple blue floor, was unostentatious, by Michael Franklin-White, and was a perfectly suitable backdrop for the varied and intricate lighting effects, by Chad Lefebvre. The music too was well timed and heightened the dramatic moments, composed by Spencer Emanuel.
As well-acted and directed as the show is, it is strangely not at all emotionally engaging — perhaps because of the melodramatic, larger-than-life sweep of the morality tale.
However, the entire cast worked beautifully together, many playing multiple roles, to make this rather obscure Shakespeare play one that any Shakespeare lover should not miss.

PERICLES

3½ Stars
Theater: Connecticut Repertory Theatre
Location: Nafe Katter Theater, 802 Bolton Rd., Storrs
Production: Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Dale AJ Rose. Scenic design by Michael Franklin-White. Costume design by Sachiko Komuro. Lighting design by Chad Lefebvre. Music composed by Spencer Emanuel. Movement and fight choreography by Greg Webster. Choreography by Hillel Meltzer.
Running time: 2 1/2 hours plus one 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through March 8.
Tickets: General admission $11 to $29. Call 860-486-4266 or visit their website at www.crt.uconn.edu.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Michael Sharon … Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Clark Carmichael … John Gower, the presenter
Brooks Brantly … Antiochus, the king of Antioch
Caroline Gombe … King Anitochus’ daughter; a Bawd
Ryan Guess … Cleon, the governor of Tarsus
Gretchen Goode … Dionyza, Cleon’s wife
Ali Periwitz … Marina, Pericle’s daughter
Philip AJ Smithey … Simonides, the king at Pentapolis
Meghan O’Leary … Thaisa, Simonides’ daughter
Phillip Korth … Lysimachus, the governor of Mytilene
Robbie Thompson, Jr. …. A Pander