Robert Tanitch reviews Pericles (Périclès, Prince de Tyr) at Silk Street Theatre, Barbican, London EC2
This is the first time Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, co-artistic directors of Cheek by Jowl, have produced Shakespeare in the French language. They normally work in Russian and English.
Pericles, Shakespeare’s least popular play, which premiered circa 1607, is a late romance, a picaresque sequence of exotic episodes and tableaux set in the ancient world.
It is generally accepted that George Wilkins wrote the first two acts and that Shakespeare wrote the last three acts. The high spots include a moving reunion for father and daughter (second only to King Lear and Cordelia) and bawdy comedy in a brothel.
Christophe Grégoire in Pericles (Périclès, Prince de Tyr)
The Prince goes on a Mediterranean cruise visiting Antioch, Tyre, Tarsus, Pentapolis, Ephesus and Mytelene.
The bargain itinerary includes storm, incest, plague, jousting, dancing, shipwreck, pirates, abduction, near-rape and prostitution.
The story is also a spiritual journey, a parable of birth, death and resurrection, full of Biblical echoes and Christian virtues.
Pericles marries Thaise, who dies at sea during a terrible storm, giving birth to a daughter, Marina. The superstitious sailors insist the baby is thrown overboard; but she is not dead and later wakes to find herself washed ashore in a coffin.
Marina is famous for her virginity. About to be murdered she is abducted by pirates who sell her into a brothel, where the Bawd puts her up to the highest bidder. Her moral steadfastness is such that she converts the entire clientele to celibacy and bankrupts the establishment.
The big disappointment is that Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod fail to make Shakespeare accessible.
Their Pericles (Christophe Grégoire) is in hospital and in a coma. He is visited by his wife and daughter. The production remains in the ward and in his dreams throughout.
A female doctor, two male nurses and another male play all the other roles, which doesn’t help their characterization and the play at all. I was pretty bored. The only plus is that Gower, the tedious narrator, has been cut.
Some day somebody will turn Pericles into a spectacular Broadway musical. There’s plenty of opportunity for music, singing, choreography, lavish scenery and costumes and spectacular effects.
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