When one thinks of William Shakespeare, thoughts of tragic youthful love or images of a brooding king may surface. One thing that is unlikely to come to mind is the troubled adventure of Pericles. His tale, while not well-known, is an engrossing one full of storms and shipwrecks, battles and death, love and remorse.
The Duke Theater Studies department presents a dynamic performance of Pericles, considered to be an unusual Shakespeare play due to its stylistic anomalies, on the unconventional stage of Sheafer Theater.
"We are doing this in a unique way," said co-director John Clum, a professor in the Theater Studies department. "This production is kind of odd in a lot of ways. It has two directors, which is a strange thing. You usually see faculty-directed plays and student-directed plays, but this is a faculty and student-directed play."
Senior Shaun Dozier, an aspiring film director and one of 20 students chosen to participate in the prestigious Fusion Artist Exchange Program, is the student co-director.
"The play is episodic," Dozier said. "It has scenes in different countries. There are different styles for different countries, and having two directors helps with that."
Adding to the originality of this production are the actors themselves. There are 44 parts in Pericles, but there are only 11 actors in the cast. Three of them play one role each, while the other eight fill in the remaining 41 roles with speed and deftness. They also function as the orchestra, each actor playing an instrument of some sort.
Throughout the play Pericles, the Prince of Tyre, struggles with multiple obstacles thrown in his way, including assassination plots and shipwrecks. Meanwhile, the rest of the actors smoothly transition in and out of the play and don costumes with lightning spend. Watching these actors perform with such dynamic fluidity and precision reminds one of a school of fish where every member knows his or her place beyond a doubt, lending grace to the show and leaving one dazzled.
The most striking feature of the production, however, is the stage. Unlike conventional rectangular three-walled stages, the Sheafer Theater contains an elevated stage that is surrounded on all four sides by the audience. Knowing that there is no room for error, as there is no hiding from the audience, all of the actors shine.
"It's a whole different take on theatrical performance," Dozier said.
This unconventional setup is fitting for this play, one of William Shakespeare's final works.
"What's interesting is that these late plays of Shakespeare, they tend to seem very tragic. Horrible things happen to people, but they end up with happy endings-unlike the earlier plays," Clum said.
Another peculiar facet of this play is its strong exploration of the father-daughter relationship.
"Shakespeare was very close to his daughter. His son had died around the time he wrote Hamlet, so these later plays are also about these intense father-daughter relationships," Clum said. "In fact, this play begins with Pericles going to a place where the father-daughter relationship is so intense, it's incestuous."
Shakespeare's plays have been described as works that defy time and are capable of showing the truth of humanity's inherent nature. However, Clum and Dozier aspire to a different goal.
"We just hope students will enjoy... the theatrical experience. We're not worried about changing their lives," Clum said. "But I think there are moments in the play that will ring true to people."
Pericles will be performed at the Sheafer Theater in the Bryan Center from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens.
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