Cymbeline (RSC)

One of the bard’s later plays, Cymbeline is less frequently produced (its last major outing was in Mike Alfreds’ 2001 version), and it’s easy to see why.

Not only does Shakespeare include lots of fairytale elements (baby princes snatched from their beds and a wicked stepmother), but he appears to have plucked good plot formulas from earlier works and intertwined them in an attempt at something new. He also includes myriad tricksy devices like cross-dressing, mistaken identity and wagers against women’s honour, making Cymbeline so complex and multi-layered that, in the wrong hands, the results could be disastrous.

Imogen and Posthumus are wed against the wishes of Imogen’s father King Cymbeline, who intended her to marry her buffoon-like stepbrother Cloten. Posthumus is banished and goes to Rome, where he meets Iachimo who bets Posthumus a sizeable amount of money, and Imogen’s diamond remembrance ring, that he can ‘taste’ Posthumus’ wife. The wager set, Iachmo heads for England. Well, that’s the very barebones of the story, which, in Dominic Cooke‘s production, clocks in at three-and-a-half magical hours.

On the empty stage, scene after scene is played out with precision and clarity.
Designer Rae Smith has worked with Cooke to use costume to draw out the differences between the Britons and the Italians. Even on listening, it’s clear the text is loaded with bird metaphors and, in this world, the God the pagan British worship is winged Jupiter.

So all their costumes are fringed with feathers in an act of reverence. This – teamed with braces, bowler hats and jewel encrusted vests – gives the British camp a Mad Max meets Gormenghast feel. Other textual allusions to goddesses are conveyed with the Princess and Queen decked out in opulent, Grecian style dresses, their long hair spilling down their backs in a style reminiscent of Boticelli paintings of the muses or Venus.

In contrast, the Italians all wear white in clean stylishly cut designs. This eclectic mismatch is appealing and works to highlight the poignant theme of cultural assimilation when, after war has ensued between Britain and Italy, Cymbeline dons a white cloak of feathers, marking the joining of the two cultures.

Both Daniel Evans and Emma Fielding as Posthumus and Imogen weigh up their characters’ dilemmas perfectly. Anton Lesser as the oily Iachmo employs crowd-pleasing tactics but is endearing nonetheless, while Paul Chahidi also deserves a mention for his boorish Cloten. The whole company is strong and come into their own in the ensemble moments with which Cooke punctuates the play, and particularly the war scenes.

The overall effect is a striking, visual piece of clear storytelling. Apart from the last scene – which is overlong and static – I only looked at my watch to rue the time passing too quickly.

– Hannah Kennedy