Shakespeare Preview: Love’s Labour’s Lost

A comedy that shares much with A Midsummer Nights Dream, Love’s Labour’s Lost begins with a group of men worried about the short span of their lives. Determined to offset an individual’s ephemeral presence on the earth, King Ferdinand decides that the way to immortality is through significant achievement that will warrant remembrance in ages to come. His strategy for achievement is a curious one: his court will become a temporary hermitage where study and fasting will gain him the fame he seeks. Ferdinand is sure in his strategy:

Our late edict shall strongly stand in force:
Navarre shall be the wonder of the world;
Our court shall be a little academe,
Still and contemplative in living art. I.i.12-14

As part of this edict, women will not be allowed near the court (with punishment worse for the woman who comes within a mile of court than the man who consorts with a woman). But even as the three lords attending the King swear to abide by the three-year’s fasting and study, the King is reminded of the expected arrival of the King of France’s daughter on a matter of serious state business.

Predictably, the Princess arrives with three attending ladies (nicely matching up with the three fasting lords) and ultimately exposing the academe as the silly bit of hubris that it is.

Aside from the matched lords and ladies, Shakespeare populates the play with a number of stock characters and situations for amusements, distractions, and merriment: a clown, a country wench, a conceited foreign fantastic, a play within a play performed by local rustics, and extensive word play.

But Shakespeare pulls back from providing the comedy that seems inevitable from the opening scene and uses the entrance of the women to shine a bit of reality on hasty oaths and the intrusion of death to re-examine insincere attempt at immortality. Instead of the ending the King and his men desire, Shakespeare provides the ending that they, and perhaps we, need.

Love’s Labour’s Lost plays in repetory with The Tempest through July 26.
Visit the Great River Shakespeare Festival for schedules and tickets: grsf.org

Shakespeare Preview: The Tempest

As the Great River Shakespeare Festival points out in an article printed in the program (and included on its website), Shakespeare generally provides just about all of the relevant information required to enjoy the play in the opening scenes. This is certainly true in the Tempest’s opening scenes. But much of this information comes in a lengthy monologue given by Prospero to his daughter—a monologue that even Prospero senses could prove challenging to follow. Another challenge for the audience is keeping track of the large number of characters who enter the stage (and the previously sparsely populated island.) Having a general idea of who the characters are and how they are related to each other could be helpful. (The GRSF program lists the characters alphabetically by cast members last name. This practice is more egalitarian than the traditional hierarchy in a Shakespearean cast of characters: male royalty in order of title—king, dukes, then lords—the rest of the men, female royalty, the rest of the females. But the alphabetical list provides little help in grouping together characters on stage in any meaningful way.)

Following are groupings of the characters as they appear in the play:

Island Inhabitants

Prospero (Jonathan Gillard Daley) and Ariel (Tara Flanagan) in the Great River Shakespeare Festival production of The Tempest.

Prospero (former Duke of Milan)
Miranda (Prospero’s teenaged daughter)
Caliban (An island native, slave to Prospero)
Ariel (an “airy spirit”)
Other spirits/nymphs

Prospero and Miranda took shelter on this tropical Island after a shipwreck, 12 years before the action of the play. Prospero had been the Duke of Milan, but was forced out by his brother (Antonio) with help from the King of Naples (Alonso). Prospero became “lord” of the island by freeing the spirit Ariel who had been imprisoned by a sorceress’s spell. The sorceress, Sycorax, had died before Prospero and Miranda arrived. Sycorax left a son, Caliban.

Survivors of Shipwreck—group 1

Ferdinand

The survivors of the shipwreck are separated during the wreck and come to the island believing that they are the only survivors. Ferdinand is the son of the King of Naples and is instantly attracted to Miranda (who is attracted to him as well).

Survivors of Shipwreck—group 2

Alonso (King of Naples)
Sebastion (the King’s brother)
Antonio (Prospero’s brother, now Duke of Milan)
Gonzalo (and old counselor to Antonio-had been counselor to Prospero)
Adrian (lord from Naples)
Francisco (lord from Naples)

The royalty wander the island believing that they are the only survivors from the ship and the only humans on the island. These royals were sailing home from the marriage of the King’s daughter to the King of Tunis. Now the king believes his son, and heir to the thrown, has drowned. Conveniently, all of Prospero’s enemies have landed on his island.

Survivors of Shipwreck—group 3

Trinculo (a jester)
Stephano (a drunken butler)

These two characters do little to further the plot of the play, yet they provide much in the way of Shakespearean humor. Besides, someone has to keep tabs on the ship’s stock of wine.

The Tempest and Colonialism

The Great River Shakespeare Festival’s production of the Tempest doesn’t deal with issues of slavery and colonialism according to the article in the program: “Some people hold that these [Colonialism and slavery] are the themes inherent in Shakespeare’s play; we don’t, but even if they were, you wouldn’t need to know much about them to have a rich and satisfying experience in the theatre.” And while it is true that a colonial (or post colonial) perspective is not necessary for a fine production of the play, this play may be Shakespeare’s only connection with those of us living in the western hemisphere, so it may be worth exploring this connection a bit.

The Tempest was written late in Shakespeare’s career, with the earliest performance on record in 1611.¹ By this time, English exploration by sea was well under way and the stories of interactions with native peoples were finding their way back to England. The Jamestown colony was established in 1607, and a 1609 shipwreck off the Bermuda Islands of a ship heading for Jamestown may form part of the story for The Tempest. Much of the crew survived the wreck, spent a year on an island in the Bermudas, re-built two ships, and made it to Jamestown.² It is likely that Shakespeare read the published accounts of the voyage and its year-long adventure on the island, including a description of the island that seems echoed in the play: “country so abundantly fruitful of all fit necessaries for the sustenation and preservation of a man’s life.”³

In addition to the stories of islands, Shakespeare would have known about captured Native Americans displayed in Europe as savages. According to Historian Ronald Takaki, English explorers continued Columbus’s practice of kidnapping natives and bringing them to Europe for display. ⁴ This practice is even referenced in The Tempest. When Stephano first discovers Calaban on the island, he alludes to the possibility of bringing the islander to Italy for profit: “If I can recover him and keep him tame and get to Naples with him, he’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat’s leather.” II.ii.64-67

Earlier in the scene, Trinculo comes upon the hiding Calaban and refers to the practice of making money from displaying natives, even using the name Indian. “A strange fish! Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. There would this monster make a man. Any strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian.” II.ii.27-32.

Because Caliban is most often grouped with the comic duo of Trinculo and Stephano, it’s unlikely that Shakespeare is making much of any type of political or social statement about the abuse of native peoples or the period of colonization that England is embarking on in the early 17th Century. But I do find it fascinating that a historical figure of Shakespeare’s stature, perhaps one of the greatest writers of English, was in some way a witness to the beginning of the clash between European and Native American culture—a clash that has betrayed our own national narrative of fairness and equality and a clash which continues to haunt the continent into the 21st Century.

While there is a connection to the new world of the Western Hemisphere, the Italian royals created by Shakespeare were not likely to travel this far west on their way back from Tunis. Instead the island is more likely located somewhere in the Mediterranean, and Shakespeare leaves Calaban’s ethnicity (and some might argue, humanity) ambiguous.

Notes
¹Hallet Smith. The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1997). 1656.
²Gerald Graff and James Phelan, editors. William Shakespeare. The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controversy. (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2000) 116.
³Graff and Phelan, 117
⁴RonaldTakaki “The ‘Tempest’ in the Wilderness,” in Graf and Phelan, 148 - 149.

The Tempest plays in repetory with Love's Labour's Lost through July 26.
Visit the Great River Shakespeare Festival for schedules and tickets: grsf.org

Great River Shakespeare Festival, Season 6

Winona, Minnesota

The 6th season of the Great River Shakespeare Festival has begun with previews and openings of both plays, Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Tempest, occurring over the past weekend. Neither of these plays are on the list of “Shakespeare blockbusters,” if there were such a list, but they offer intriguing looks at Shakespeare early and late. Each play offers unique creative challenges for the actors, directors, and designers, but as with most Shakespeare, ample opportunity for physical comedy, romance, dramatic tension, clever wordplay, and theatrical spectacle.

In each of the preceding seasons, much local advertising has focused on the accessibility of GRSF’s presentations and the appeal of these plays to a broad cross section of Minnesotans, even to Joe the Plumbers. This seems to be the message again this year as the Festival markets two lesser known plays in a year where the festival has had to significantly cut its production budget. The message is summed up in an article posted on the GRSF website and printed inside the program that declares “You don’t need to know much in advance” to appreciate our productions. A version of this same article was e-mailed to patrons last week. As this article points out, Shakespeare generally provides much of the back story in the opening two scenes, and this back story is all an audience member needs to know.

Much Shakespeare is filled with jokes and references that most of us are not likely to catch—because they are dated, not because we’re not smart! (For example, the expression “hiking the Appalachian Trail” might be culturally witty this month, an interesting reference in a couple of years, but totally meaningless 10 years from now—let alone 400 years.) Scholars can often get to the bottom of dated references in Shakespeare, but the rest of us can simply enjoy what we do find humorous or poignant and not worry about what we might be missing.

Over the past 5 years, the Great River Shakespeare festival has demonstrated its ability and commitment to both remain faithful to the text and to make the plays alive and vibrant for a modern audience. Perhaps in the Festival’s first year I was cautious about urging everyone I knew to attend the play. I was pretty sure that I would enjoy the plays, but I was afraid others might find the plays too hard to follow, too stuffy, too wordy, or too long. But every GRSF production that I’ve seen has convinced me that Shakespeare is meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

The Tempest and Love’s Labour’s Lost play in repertory through July 26
Visit the Great River Shakespeare Festival for schedules and tickets: grsf.org

The Rainmaker opens at the Commonweal

The Commonweal will fill out its summer repertory with Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker. The play had its first successful run on Broadway in 1954 with a more recent revival in 1999. It also has seen productions in Film (with Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn), television, and as a musical titled 101 in the Shade. The Rainmaker at the Commonweal begins previews Friday, June 19.

The play takes place on a small ranch in the western U.S. during a drought summer. A father and his three adult children—two sons and a daughter—are trying to survive the drought and discover how much hope is allowed in a seemingly barren world. A major concern, voiced openly by the men, is the diminishing marital prospects for Lizzie who is already into her late 20s. But along with this specific concern, is the larger tension between pragmatism and yearning.

Into the balance (simplistically, two members fall out on the practical side, two on the dreamer side), comes Bill Starbuck, a self proclaimed Rainmaker who promises to bring back the rain and, predictably, disrupts the family’s equilibrium. While all of the men must adjust to the changing barometer, it is Lizzie who bears the brunt of the storm and must ultimately choose whether or not to accept the pragmatic role that she has been preparing herself for or risk the potential foolishness of hope.

The play itself has a lot of potential for a contemporary audience. The seeming conflict between practicality and personal fulfillment has not gone away since the 1950s, nor has the fear of being left alone—a spinster in the nomenclature of the play. Yet much has changed in the intervening 50 years. Most notably, all four family members would have more choices and more opportunities than they had in 1950, and a rainmaker could enter their lives in many ways other ways than walking through the front door. One of the challenges for the Commonweal will be to stay true to the play (which many in the audience are likely to know) without becoming stuck in an historical caricature that is easily dismissed.

The Rainmaker runs in repertory with the Odd Couple through October 24.

Visit the Commonweal for schedules and tickets: Commonweal Theatre

HCO Production of Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast finale during dress rehersal

Over the more than 10 years that Winona’s Home and Community Options (HCO) has used a summer musical production as a fundraiser for its work providing residential services to people with developmental disabilities, they’ve developed a reputation for creating a huge theatrical splash. Even with the arrival of the Great River Shakespeare Festival and the Gilmore Creek Summer Theater, HCO has consistently wowed sell-out houses summer after summer. This summer, they’ve even added an additional show for a 7-night run—a long run for a community theater production. While much of the box office success can be attributed to the support HCO has in the Winona area, it is also a result of HCO’s commitment to producing a grand theater experience. In short, they have meet the demands of big musicals by stepping up with a big vision, year after year.

This year’s production of Beauty and the Beast is no different. HCO draws from a talented pool of community actors—some with extensive stage experience. The actors include adults to students from area high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. Included in this mix are many residents of HCO’s area facilities, many of whom are now seasoned actors and stage hands. These actors are supported by a professional pit orchestra, ambitious chorography, spectacular costuming, a tremendous number of volunteers, and a staging that befits a professional house like St. Mary’s Page Theatre.

Beauty and the Beast

June 18 - 24, St. Mary’s University Page Theatre
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Asman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Wolverton.
Directed by Bruce Ramsdell, musical direction by Harry Michell, costumes by Janice Turek, Choreography by Jennifer TeBeest, sets by Steve Libera, technical direction by Mitchell Auman.

Tickets available at the Page Theater Box office (507) 547-1715 or online at www.pagetheatre.org.

Hedda Gabler Closes Friday

Friday is the last chance to see perhaps the strongest play of the season: the Commonweal's Hedda Gabler.

Preview of the Commonweal’s Hedda Gabler
Review of the Commonweal’s Hedda Gabler

Visit the Commonweal for schedules and tickets: Commonweal Theatre

Dear James Opens Saturday at the Jon Hassler

The Jon Hassler continues its tradition of staging adaptations of Jon Hassler novels with the opening of Dear James Saturday, Jun 13. This will be the third staging of Dear James in Plainview. The first came in 1997 when Minneapolis’s Lyric Theater staged the play in Plainview’s Catholic church. The Lyric’s involvement with Plainview would evolve into the Jon Hassler Theater.

The Jon Hassler Theater provides the following synopsis of Dear James:

Dear James focuses on the character whom author Jon Hassler admitted was closest to his heart, the upright Agatha McGee, who regularly sets her beloved hometown of Staggerford on its ear with her sawtoothed tongue. At age 70, retired, cut adrift from her moorings and depressed, she heads off to Rome, where her old pen pal, Father James O’Hannon, tracks her down after several years of unanswered letters and a life-threatening illness. Back home, French, her only living relative (who doesn’t know it) house-sits and is visited by Imogene, a lonely, loveless childhood friend whose agenda is seduction. While Agatha and James renew their friendship in Rome and Assisi, Imogene ferrets out James’ letters to Agatha and goes public with what was meant to be private, with disastrous results.

Corallee Grebe as Imogene and Eric Knutson as French in Jon Hassler’s Dear James. (Benjamin Hain Photo)
Read Käri Knutson’s story in the Winona Daily News.

Dear James by John Hassler, Directed by Sally Childs

Cheryl Frarck as Agatha McGee
Robert Gardner as Father James Gardner
Coralee Grebe as Imogene
Eric Knutson as French
Joe Ulwelling as Senator Myron Kleinschmidt

Dear James runs June 13 - July 24 (with a sneak preview June 12)

Visit the John Hassler Theater online for schedules and tickets: www.jonhasslertheater.org
Phone the Jon Hassler Theater at 507-534-2900.