A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Pericles’

Despite a mighty and delightful ensemble cast, the Play On Shakespeare‘s modern verse translation of William Shakespeare‘s Pericles at Boston Court Pasadena is a bit of a head-scratcher.

By attempting to fuse modern dialogue with Shakespearean language, it creates an off-putting rhythm that isn’t helped by the direction’s contrived ‘play within a play’ concept, which would have served the story better if told directly.

One of Shakespeare’s most adventurous and least staged plays, Pericles follows a young prince forced into exile after uncovering a deadly royal secret. What follows is a sweeping journey across oceans and kingdoms marked by storms, shipwrecks, separation, survival, and ultimately reunion. This re-conceptualization of Shakespeare’s Pericles in Ellen McLaughlin’s gorgeous translation embraces movement and music to tell a thrilling adventure tale that celebrates the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.

I have always believed that when Shakespeare is done correctly, an audience member can completely understand what’s going on even if the archaic language may go over their heads. So coming across modern verse translations by Play On Shakespeare has always left me confused as they do absolutely make the Shakespeare works more understandable to modern sensibilities but by juxtaposing modern dialogue with that of Shakespeare’s times, the audible experience comes off extremely jarring. The company, regardless of the translator (in this case, this was adapted by Ellen McLaughlin), also has a habit of incorporating very feelsy-weelsy songs frequently throughout that comes off more corny than endearing.

What comes off even more confusing is this production’s concept and execution. The first major change is that it takes place during modern times in a school gym as folks from different walks of life are taking shelter due to a heavy rainstorm that has knocked out power in the area. Within this motley group of bewildered strangers, an older gentleman starts passing out scripts of Pericles itself to everyone, with each individual having a different reaction needing to act it out. Without getting into the plot hole of how everyone suddenly got into character with their lines being magically memorized, I wondered throughout the entire play why director Margaret Shigeko Starbuck chose the meta route. This meta concept ended up becoming more of a distraction when one of the characters gets too caught up in the lines as it blurs with his real-life situation.

There might also be a reason why Pericles is one of Shakespeare’s least staged plays because it is also one of his worst plays. All of the characters are paper-thin at best with absurd elements throughout the play that clash together at the end in such a manner that I couldn’t help but laugh at how it all resolves into such a saccharine-filled happy ending.

Thankfully, the play’s saving grace is its actors. With such a fine ensemble cast, they do a wonderful job in almost making you forget the production’s contrived execution and flimsy plot. Particularly with Randolph Thompson and Julanne Chidi Hill, these two actors command the stage with their incredible presence and gravitas. Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson comes in suddenly in the second act (how her character is suddenly corralled into also doing this meta play and excels in her lines is yet another plot hole) but she is a delight as Marina. While I highlight these three actors, there is not a single weak link amongst the cast and it is solely because of them that I do find some redeeming value in this confusing production.

If you’re a strict Shakespeare aficionado, I’m not entirely sure I can recommend this production. For everyday audience members? It’s a toss up even with such a great cast. I do however give a strong commendation to the production hiring so many global majority actors in significant positions so if anything, come to watch excellent global majority representation act their hearts out. Pericles runs through September 27, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets range from $10 to $82, including fees, and can be bought here.