By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuOxCWd2ZiA
Available until: forever
Content warnings: sexual assault, violence, gore
Cymbeline is one of the funny ones – and I’m
definitely not calling it a comedy. (It’s actually listed as a tragedy, though
I am a bit surprised by this.) Cymbeline is a funny one because it
doesn’t make complete sense. You do have to suspend your disbelief. You do need
to forgive some very bad behaviour in order to be happy with the ending. You need a top-class cast in order to make
this one work. Fortunately, this production is by TSMGO so you get your
top-class cast and the rest is easy. But
it’s still a very strange play!
TMSGO have always been great, but the special effects have evolved through the series as the production team and actors have got more comfortable with Zoom. Some of the camera work in Cymbeline (done by the actors themselves on their own devices) is very clever, the fight scenes look almost easy (though I’m sure they’re not) and as for prop-passing, they could do it in their sleep. There’s a lot to watch out for in Cymbeline and it’s very impressive. Director Robert Myles, producer Sarah Peachey and stage manager/master of props Emily Ingram have outdone themselves again.
The play is called Cymbeline and the character is
very important to the plot as most of what happens is a result of him being an
idiot. Or maybe not quite an idiot – it would upset any dad if his sons were
stolen and his daughter got married behind his back, but maybe he’s just a
little bit too fond of banishment. That said, if he behaved entirely reasonably
all the time, he might not have been worth writing a play about.
Leo Atkin plays the role of Cymbeline brilliantly. He gives
Cymbeline dignity even when he’s behaving like a spoiled child and he speaks
the text naturally and beautifully in a way that brings out Cymbeline’s
feelings and the poetry equally strongly. He has a way of making you want to
listen to him. At the end, Cymbeline’s charming bewilderment really helps you
get past all the oddities. The poor man can’t believe what he’s seeing!
But Imogen is the one who is usually seen a is the main
character and she certainly has a lot more to say and do than Cymbeline.
Gabrielle Sheppard is lovely in the role and her Imogen really seems to change
as the play progresses. At the beginning, she is regal and outwardly confident,
then there’s an initial struggle following her change in fortunes, before she ends
the play as a much stronger character. This interested me as it made me wonder
how many Shakespearean heroines who are good to start with actually change for
the better? There are certainly some, but I’m not sure that characters like
Viola and Miranda change very much – it’s more that their circumstances change.
Hermia and Helena are ready to be friends again once they have one boyfriend
each, but have they really changed or are they just happier? I could very
easily be wrong, but Gabrielle’s Imogen changes a lot and I really like that.
It leaves me with all sorts of questions too, like whether she’ll actually be
happy with Posthumus.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I really liked Posthumus. Manish
Gandhi makes him a really likeable character and his bursts of emotions are
brilliantly-done and really affecting. He does a lot of things which are difficult
to accept, but I do feel he’s an impulsive character who acts first and thinks
later rather than one who plans what he’s going to do. I just wonder if Imogen
might want someone a bit more adventurous.
But one person she won’t be ending up with is Jachimo!
Robbie Capaldi is truly fantastic in the role. He’s sneaky and creepy, just as
he’s meant to be, but he does have charisma and he’s great to watch. I was always
eager to find out what he was going to get up to next. Robbie had a lot to do
on the technical side too. The scene where he hides in the chest in Imogen’s
bedroom is one of the best scenes I’ve seen in any TSMGO play – it’s not only
well-shot but extremely tense.
Kevin V. Smith plays the role of the Queen, one of
relatively few female roles played by a man for TSMGO. I think it was a really
brave choice, which totally paid off.
Not that long ago, I think it would have been a bad idea to cast a man
in the role of an evil woman as it could imply that men can only play
women if they’re evil and therefore somehow less feminine. But casting Kevin as
the Queen is actually a step forward because it’s showing you can cast a male
in a female role and most people won’t see it as any kind of statement about transsexuality:
they’ll mostly just see a very talented actor making the most of a great role.
The Queen was cold and mean and she really seems to relish hurting others. I
often found myself watching Kevin when the Queen was silent. He reacts to
everything. There’s a glimmer in his eye or he smiles chillingly or he just
makes the smallest movement and it tells you so much.
I also love Misha McCullagh as Pisanio. Her Pisanio is such
a caring person and her performance is really moving. Whenever anything happens
to the people around him, Pisanio feels it deeply and Misha communicates it beautifully.
Even when I found myself questioning the other characters, it was impossible
not to love Pisiano.
It is a really strong cast, including Joanna Harte’s brilliantly-characterised
Belarius, Katie Tranter’s unlikeable but still hilarious Cloten, Alice Langrish’s
forceful Caius Lucius, and the excellent ensemble, including Comfort Fabian (who
is so powerful as Jupiter, I forgot to find his random appearance annoying. I
just accepted that a God had suddenly appeared). The swings get some outings
too – both took on roles alongside their swing duties when a couple of people
were unable to do the performance and Gareth Turkington seamlessly slots in
when a rather important character has technical issues.
Another triumph for TSMGO. And it’s not even tempered by
sadness that there are only two plays left because… there might not be only two
plays left.
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