The mystery remains. Did William Shakespeare actually pen only the last three acts of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," as some scholars claim? Or did he produce a modest "rewrite" of someone else's rather hackneyed work in the first two acts and then move into an original and quite masterful recounting of the "painful adventures" of hero and long lost daughter during the work's second half?

Endless academic brow furrowing ultimately seems quite beside the point. Either the play works as theater, or it doesn't.

If the superbly acted, wittily designed "Pericles," on stage at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival through July 28, is any example, it works--and then some. Under Gabriel Barre's droll, romantically exuberant direction, the tempestuous odyssey in search of love and adventure undertaken by young Prince Pericles has all the elements of a genuine cinematic blockbuster.

Check this list of action highlights. Pericles (handsome Thomas M. Hammond) flees from a king who puts a contract out on him--but not before the evil Antiochus (Mark Elliot Wilson) is revealed as having committed incest with his own teddy-toting daughter. A violent shipwreck occurs, following which the prince, as sole survivor, encounters a trio of New England accented fisherman (Andy Paterson's Down East "yaas" prompt audience guffaws) garbed in shiny yellow slickers. Winning his utterly gorgeous, totally sexy, belly-dancing wife Thaisa (Roxanna Hope) in a Monty Python-inspired tournament, Pericles then loses her (or so he thinks) when she "dies" in childbirth at sea.

Add the terrible famine suffered by the citizenry of Tharsus (don't miss the Governor's evil wife Dionyza, played by Elizabeth Long, munching greedily on a candy bar) that our hero is able to cure with his corn-laden fleet of ships. Note a second contract killing gone awry, sending Pericles' long abandoned daughter Marina (lovely Cypress native Agnes Tsangaridou) into the clutches of bloodthirsty pirates determined to sell her to the highest bidder. Segue to the brothel (this, after all, is X-rated material) for Marina's desperate stand against the lechers who frequent the establishment--including the local Governor, himself, (again Mark Elliot Wilson) who becomes her biggest fan.

And sway to the booming, Island-tinted singsong of A. Bernard Cummings as Gower--narrator serving as Chorus.

Bells clang, lutes and viols strum, trumpets blare in Andy Teirstein's endlessly inventive pastiche of a score. James Wolk's striking set design features a huge white moon hanging languorously, regal banners of gold and red evoking the various ports of call, and cardboard mock-ups of sailing vessels, worn as headgear, paraded, stage rear, to suggest ships at sea. The rainbow-hued costumes of Elizabeth Niemczyk produce amusing visual riffs--a hit man dressed as a leather-sporting biker, brothel owners arrayed in hip-hop finery.

All these mixed signals might suggest total directorial chaos. Yet this "Pericles" manages to avoid any semblance of arbitrary decision-making on the part of director Barre, the pitfall of many stage practitioners intent upon impressing audiences with their creative imaginations even at the expense of honoring the work's intrinsic voice.

Rather, one is impressed here by how organic everything feels, how well everything works and how much fun this show is for all concerned. Don't miss it!

Performances of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Drew University, Madison, conclude July 28. For ticket information call (973) 408-5600.

Festival mines gold with rarely seen 'Pericles'
By Debra Scacciaferro,
Daily Record
July 19, 2002

"To sing a song that old was sung, from ashes ancient Gower is come * "

In the spirit of these opening lines from William Shakespeare's rarely produced play "Pericles: Prince of Tyre," director Gabriel Barre uses music, spectacle, passion and humor to spin a wondrous tale about a wandering prince who keeps his faith and honor in a world of wickedness, greed and fickle fate.

And in the process, Barre makes a stunning directorial debut at the New Jersy Shakespeare Festival in Madison, making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, with a play that is often considered Shakespeare's worst.

One part tragedy, one part comedy, one part romance, "Pericles," which runs Tuesdays through Sundays through July 28, is above all a stirring odyssey that offers a feast for the eyes, the ears and the heart.

And its message of remaining virtuous in a confusing world is a balm in these present days of turmoil. Do yourself a favor, and don't miss it.

The superb ensemble cast is led by A. Bernard Cummings as the mystical narrator Gower, Thomas H. Hammond as the good-hearted heroic Pericles, the bewitching Roxanna Hope as his ill-fated wife, Thaisa, and the luminous Agnes Tsangaridou as the couple's virtuous daughter Marina.

In scene after scene, Barre creates a fluid storybook world that visually propels the audience through a succession of ancient cities, as Pericles begins his painful journey to wisdom and experience by sailing along the Mediterranean Sea, from his kingdom in Tyre (near present-day Beirut in Lebanon) through famine-plagued Tarsus, debauched Mytilene and the fair land of Pentapolis.

From the very first moment, Barre breathes magic into "Pericles," beginning on James Wolk's versatile sea blue set capped by a golden moon, as three maidens clad in flowing green bend their green scarves like waves upon the sand, approaching and receding in time to a spellbinding original score by composer Andy Teirstein.

Suddenly, a hand is thrust up through the floor. Ancient Gower emerges as a shaman, chanting in a sing-song voice, as African drums build to a fever pitch, conjuring up the characters who appear in silent vignettes. Over it all, the statuesque goddess Diana looks on beneficently from under a crown of stars.

It's the first thrilling moment of an evening of fabulous storytelling.

Barre is adept at finding simple visual metaphors, many of them quite humorous, to quickly convey a change of scene, all the while keeping the story flowing.

Actors seen only from the neck up, their heads comically contorted, suggest the beheaded victims of the incestuous King Antiochus, who discourages princes like Pericles from winning his daughter's hand by demanding they solve his riddle, or forfeit their lives. Women balance ships upon their heads to show Pericles' progress along the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. A row of withered corn stalks under an eerie orange light conveys a drought-stricken land, where moaning actors pose in the same stark images of starvation captured in televised reports of the Ethiopian famine.

Sometimes, Barre goes too far. For instance, to convey a whorehouse in Mytilene, he dresses Pander (played by Michael Rogers) as a 1970s stereotype pimp with a purple boa-trimmed leather coat, and arms his right-hand thug Boult (played by Andy Patterson) with a boom box while gum chewing whores gather round the new virgin on the block, Pericles' kidnapped daughter Marina. Definitely overboard - but definitely funny, especially Patterson's hysterical performance as he is dissuaded from ravaging the virginal Marina out of pure frustration.

But Barre also gives us moments of sheer delicacy - the scenes of reunion between a Pericles wracked by grief and his surviving loved ones are as finely wrought as the strains of live harp music that accompany it. And the lovely banquet scene where Pericles plays a haunting tune on the mandolin for the entrancing Thaisa, daughter of good King Simonides, is as exotic, romantic and sensual as anything in "The Arabian Nights."

And moments of sheer spectacle: Pericles is whirled and tossed on a platform "ship" under a dangerously billowing sail on the stormy seas, coffins are tossed overboard, babes are born in the squalls, and men wash up nearly naked on strange shores. Fight director Rick Sordelet, who has staged many an exciting fight on the stages of Broadway and The Shakespeare Festival, gives us a loud, wildly raucous jousting scene, as Pericles, protected only by his father's ancient shield, takes on a quintet of armed knights.

Festival finesses perils of 'Pericles'
Monday, July 15, 2002
By Peter Filichia,
Star-Ledger Staff

A father commits incest with his daughter. Another father abandons his daughter. One man takes out a murder contract on another, followed by a woman's taking one out on another woman. Our heroine dies in childbirth, but her daughter survives -- only to grow into womanhood, when she is kidnapped and forced into prostitution.

If it sounds as if it's a daytime soap, it isn't. It's William Shakespeare's "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," now at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival in Madison.

It is certainly one of the Bard's most episodic plays. Prince Pericles continually gets himself into trouble and must leave town so often that he winds up traveling to more ports of call than the Love Boat ever visited. En route, Shakespeare included a plot device just as unbelievable as the one where Pam Ewing awoke in "Dallas" to find that she had only dreamed that her husband Bobby had died.

Director Gabriel Barre knows that "Hamlet," it ain't. So, he seems to be saying, let's have some fun with it. No matter that the play takes place in the 14th century. He'll spice it up with some benign anachronisms -- everything from a lunch box to a boom-box -- and even include a "hubba-hubba" that undoubtedly cannot be found in the text.

Barre doesn't let these liberties get out of hand, though, and the result is a wonderfully entertaining production. He paints some dazzling stage pictures, ordering his exemplary cast to cover virtually every inch of the stage, the aisles, and some other places, as well. Though the show is more than two and a half hours long, he doesn't let the pace lag.

The director shows plenty of imagination, too. A bedroom scene must be followed by a scene on a ship? No problem for Barre. He manages to make the platform where the lovers enjoyed themselves quickly turn into their getaway vehicle.

As Pericles, Thomas M. Hammond has a regal bearing and a honey-infused voice. He is able to convey that the prince is a fine human being. Note his manner when he is bettered by one of his minions. He will readily admit that he has been wrong, and won't pull rank to save face.

Roxanna Hope plays his wife, Thaisa. Like Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday," she can be regal when she needs to be, but down to earth when not in public view. As their daughter Marina, Agnes Tsangaridou is lovely, a daughter of which any parents would be proud.

Christian Wijnberg, who portrays a king always described as "good Simonides," deserves the adjective himself. Michael Stewart Allen is superb as Pericles' second-in-command, who knows his job is to remain second and not to strive for first.

Andrew Long sensitively plays a nice guy who finishes last. Andy Patterson, Seth Richardson and Aaron Shipp score high as low comics.

Supporting these characters is a talented ensemble -- more talented than usual, in fact, for many of them must play musical instruments to punctuate the action. They are all costumed by Elizabeth Niemczyk and lit to beautiful advantage by Tim Hunter. Finally, fight director Rick Sordelet has come up with such dazzling swordplay that his name really should be Rick Swordelet.

"Pericles" doesn't get done very often. It certainly won't often get done better than this.

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