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Pericles\u2019 daughter has been kidnapped by pirates and sold into a brothel, where she convinces the customers to honor her virginity. This may not normally be one of Shakespeare\u2019s most memorable scenes, but it becomes an exhilarating gospel number, \u201cFind Your Light,\u201d that brings both the hundred performers and thousand spectators to their feet, their hands waving or fans flickering ecstatically in the air, in a rousing demonstration of the redemptive power of the music of the Black Church. It is one of the several breathtaking moments that justify this gospel musical adaptation of \u201cPericles\u201d as this year\u2019s free Public Theater Public Works production over Labor Day weekend.<\/p>\n
As with all the Public Works shows, the cast is a mix of eager but generally inexperienced community members and starry professionals, this year including\u00a0Ato Blankson-Wood as Pericles, Den\u00e9e Benton as his wife Thaisa (very different from her character on The Gilded Age), Alex Newell as the goddess Diana, and Crystal Lucas-Perry as Gower in a performance that counts as some kind of divine revelation all its own.\u00a0\u00a0But unlike all the previous Public Works shows, which were presented at the Delacorte in Central Park, \u201cPericles\u201d is being presented at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York is an unquestionably awe-inspiring landmark, maybe even an especially apt location given the spiritual infusion in this \u201cPericles,\u201d but it is a problematic venue for any Shakespearean play (even a musicalized one), which may be why they\u2019re calling the production a \u201cconcert experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The original language of the play (albeit abbreviated) remains, as does the plot, a convoluted tale recounting the many voyages, traumas and triumphs, rough times and romance of Prince Pericles and his kin. (There is a succinct and clarifying synopsis reprinted in the program.)\u00a0\u00a0The script is supplemented by music and lyrics written by\u00a0Troy Anthony. Given how hairy some of the episodes are, I suppose it was inevitable that some of Anthony\u2019s lyrics would be unintentionally hilarious.\u00a0\u00a0Early on, Pericles sings:<\/p>\n
I went to Antioch and I gave my best
All that was waiting there was incest.<\/p>\n
But most of the twenty or so musical numbers feel like enhancements.\u00a0\u00a0A largely utilitarian scene in the original, between a shipwrecked Pericles and kindly fishermen who tell him about the nearby contest to win the hands of the local princess Thaisa, becomes also an excuse for a rocking \u201cFishers\u2019 Blues.\u201d Cleon\u2019s talk of hunger in Tarsus, is driven home by protestors in the song \u201cSick and Tired.\u201d There are some gorgeous ballads, a love duet or two, and, above all, those gospel numbers.<\/p>\n
The clearest advantage to Anthony\u2019s score is the elevation of the role of Gower. In previous productions, he is simply\u00a0the narrator of the tale, summarizing, providing context, helping to finesse the leap in years, in order to allow the plot to span an entire generation.\u00a0\u00a0But here Gower is the life force of the story.\u00a0\u00a0The songs Anthony writes that include Gower are a gift to Crystal Lucas-Perry, and she makes the most of them. The actress\u00a0\u00a0made a spectacular Broadway debut as John Adams, the impatient prime agitator for independence\u00a0in \u201c1776,\u201d then followed that up with a tour-de-force portrayal of five different characters in Jordan E. Cooper\u2019s \u201cAin\u2019t No Mo,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0including\u00a0an absurdly caterwauling church lady at a funeral. She is a church lady once again. She\u2019s not just telling the tale; she\u2019s leading the chorus, encouraging the characters to make the right choice, unifying the disparate scenes, energizing the action.<\/p>\n
At the risk of sounding like some kind of weird diva partisan, I\u2019ll admit to ambivalent feelings about the staging of the one song featuring Alex Newell as Diana, which we were obviously meant to understand as the 11 o\u2019clock showstopper.\u00a0Newell was terrific, as usual. But\u00a0my immediate thought: Lucas-Perry had been performing such numbers all night long.<\/p>\n
That staging was one of the moments that took great advantage of the majesty of the cathedral, whose\u00a0nave is 124 feet high and 601 feet long \u2013 mammoth, one of the largest in the world.\u00a0\u00a0But it is also relatively narrow (48 feet), which means that to accommodate anywhere near the number of theatergoers who attend the Delacorte (which, after the renovation, is reportedly 1,866), the seating had to go the full length of the nave.\u00a0\u00a0Director Carl Cofield takes advantage of the length a few times, mostly for royal processions down the aisle, but also for a lively marching band and majorettes (which seems appropriate since they\u2019re traveling the length of two football fields.) Most of the action, however, is staged in front of the altar,\u00a0\u00a0which is simply too far away for most audience members to see. This is why there were screens placed at regular intervals all the way to the rear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had the privilege of sitting relatively close up \u2013 close enough so that no screen was needed \u2013 close enough to be floored by the entrance by Den\u00e9e Benton as Thaisa in an almost shocking seductive pose wearing a sexy yellow dress<\/p>\n
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I suppose you didn\u2019t need to be close up<\/p>\n
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I can\u2019t speak to the acoustics in the rear, but it helped to be able to focus visually where you wanted to, not where the camera was pointing \u2014 one of the advantages, usually, of live theater.<\/p>\n
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To be fair, everybody, as I said, was thrilled by the scene of Pericles daughter Marina (Amina Faye) convincing Lysimachus (Wil Lowe) to see the light.<\/p>\n
The Public Works project is always a party; it\u2019s always exciting and moving to see so many regular New Yorkers participate. I\u2019m sure I was not the only one (no matter where they were seated) to have been delighted by this production \u2014 and to be looking forward the one next Labor Day weekend, back at the Delacorte. <\/p>\n