Cymbeline

Synopsis

Imogen marries Posthumus against her father's wishes. Posthumous is exiled and while there told that he has lost his bet that his wife would be faithful. He plots a jealous reunion and revenge. Unaware, Imogene travels to meet him but after some strange occurrences she gets into disguise as a man - in a drugged sleep in a cave with a man and his two sons she awakes next to a headless corpse.

Our Review:

13 July 2001

Cymbeline is a good candidate for Shakespeare's worst play. With a labyrinthine plot that blithely skips between Roman Britain and renaissance Italy, and with a final scene that ties up the loose ends in one mad rush, it presents a major challenge to any director.

Full marks then to director Mike Alfreds for attempting something different and using the empty space of the Globe to tell the story in the most simplistic way possible. Eschewing scenery, elaborate costumes, with a minimal amount of props and just two percussionists for accompaniment, the company of six actors, playing several parts each, gives a clear and unfussy exposition of the story. This, indeed, is storytelling at its best and, as befits the Celtic season, this is going back to bardic traditions, where an audience can be enraptured by a tale, simply told.

That said, it's almost inevitable that problems arise from actors fulfilling multiple roles - the final scene, with its 27 revelations,...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 13 September 2001:

This was my first visit to the Globe and I was really looking forward to it. "Cymbeline" is one of my favourite plays, but it needs careful handling - in my opinion this Kabuki-style production treated it with all the finesse of an amateur pantomime. What on earth were Jane Arnfield's semaphoric arm gestures in aid of? Why was Cloten played as an elderly colonel of the British Raj? As for those members of the audience who actually listened to the play instead of wandering in and out of the standing area or staring at other people - what is one to make of people who laugh uproariously at some of Shakespeare's loveliest words, snigger because they don't understand the convention of "invisible" actors handing props... I could go on but I won't. A ghastly experience. ...

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