Sheathed in full armor, knights joust in a tournament to win a fair lady's hand. A beautiful maiden dramatically escapes from a lowly brothel. Feisty buccaneers kidnap a damsel from a wicked queen. Impassioned fights, romance and good old-fashioned magic- it's all in Blair's production of Pericles.
Opening tomorrow, Friday, Nov 14, after eight weeks of rehearsal, Pericles is the latest in director Kelly Newman's fall Shakespearean productions, which include A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado about Nothing.
Pericles, a complicated tragi-comedy, begins with the story of unlucky Pericles (junior John Visclosky), Prince of Tyre, and then tells of his equally ill-fated daughter, Marina (junior Tanu Suri). When Pericles finally wins the hand of Thaisa (senior Lindsay Hocker) after encounters with assassins and incest in an ardent quest to find a wife, she seemingly dies giving birth to Marina. Overwhelmed with grief, Pericles places Marina in the care of Queen Dionyza (junior India Chapple).
But when jealous Dionyza plots to kill Marina because of the girl's overwhelming beauty, danger and chance thicken a plot already peppered with pirates, bordellos and of course, fighting.
Suri assures the play will not be too hard to follow. "Although it's Shakespeare, the way we've done it makes it easy to understand," she explains. The set features a single structure and incorporates varied lighting to help audiences distinguish between settings, while actors emphasize gestures and voices to illustrate characters' actions and feelings. Glittering costumes of Indian and African design add a final touch to the play.
At its heart, Pericles is easily the stuff fairy tales, if not dreams, are made on. "It just takes place once upon a time, " says Newman. After Pericles, Newman plans to direct the spring school musical, The Merry Widow. With a blend of color, light, and style, Pericles promises to be a play with woe, joy, and everything imaginable in between.
Pericles will be performed Nov 14, 15, 21 and 22 in the auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for students and seniors cost $3. Tickets for adults cost $6.
Sheila Rajagopal. Sheila "the Fruitcake" Rajagopal is a dudish Magnet senior (for the love of God, can you believe it?). She is <i>still</i> madly in love with <i>Silver Chips</i> and chases people down corridors with red pens and sheaves of paper for the <i>Chips</i> cause. She also … More »
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