Hamlet, Henry IV Part One, Twelfth Night, The

Merchant of Venice, and Throne of Blood, performed by

the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, February-October
2010.
Geoff Ridden
Southern Oregon University
RiddenG@sou.edu
Geoff Ridden. Review of Hamlet, Henry IV Part One, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and Throne
of Blood, performed by the Oregon Shakespeare Festiva, February!O"tober #$%$..& Early Modern Literary
Studie %'.# (#$%$!%%)* #$.%!+# ,UR-* http*..pur.o"".org.ems.%'!#.revthron.htm/

Hamlet. 0ire"tor* 1i Rau"h. 2ith 0an 0onohue (3amet), 4effrey 5ing (6audius),
7rmando 0uran (3oratio), and Susannah Food (Opheia).
Henry IV Part One. 0ire"tor* 8enny 9etropuos. 2ith 4ohn :ufts (8rin"e 3a), 0avid
5ey (Fastaff), and 5evin 5enery (3otspur).
Twelfth Night. 0ire"tor* 0arko :resn;ak. 2ith 1rooke 8arks (<ioa), 9iriam 7. -aube
(Oivia), 9i"hae =i"h (Feste), and 6hristopher -iam 9oore (9avoio).
The Merchant of Venice. 0ire"tor* 1i Rau"h. 2ith 7nthony 3ead (Shyo"k), <ima
Siva (8ortia), and 4onathan 3augen (7ntonio) .
Throne of Blood. 0ire"tor* 8ing 6hong. 2ith 5evin 5enery (2ashiku), 7ko (-ady
7sa;i), 6ristofer 4ean (Forest Spirit), 0anforth 6omins (9iki).
%. :he #$%$ season marked the >'th anniversary of the Oregon Shakespeare
Festiva. ?t was a season that in"uded three outdoor produ"tions of Shakespeare
pays (in"uding the two pays, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice, whi"h
were the Festiva@s very first offerings), an indoor staging of Hamlet at the 7ngus
1owmer :heatre , and a word premier produ"tion of the stage version of Throne
of Blood, aso in the 7ngus 1owmer :heatre. Unusuay, there were no
Shakespeare produ"tions this year in the smaer Aew :heatre, but the outdoor
season on the =iBabethan Stage. 7en 8aviion was, on"e more, entirey devoted
to Shakespeare, for the first time sin"e #$$>.
#. 7 of these produ"tions did eC"eent business, in most "ases "ompetey seing
out (the eC"eptions being Henry IV Part One and, to my surprise, Throne of
Blood). :he Festiva@s 7rtisti" 0ire"tor, 1i Rau"h, who won the #$%$ <isionary
-eadership 7ward from the :heatre 6ommuni"ations Group, reay hit his stride
this season, even if, as wi be "ear beow, his own interpretations of Shakespeare
were not aways to everyone@s taste.
D. :he OSF serves and supports its audien"es very we, offering them a range of
taks and Euestion!and!answer sessions with a"tors, dire"tors, "riti"s and
dramaturgs. ?n addition to ba"kstage tours, there are times when it opens its
"ostume and s"enery departments ! athough ? did wonder whether the unusua
opening moments of The Merchant of Venice shoud have been reveaed at a
s"enery!workshop event in 7pri, some weeks before that produ"tion opened. ?n
addition, the Festiva@s season evoked theatri"a responses esewhere in the region
! there were o"a produ"tions of Illyria the Muical (in 7shand) and of I Hate
Hamlet (in :aent) in the summer of #$%$.
+. Hamlet opened in February and ran unti the end of O"tober. 0an 0onohoeFs was
an outstanding performan"e, in every sense, in"uding stamina (sin"e there was
thirty minutes of onstage a"tion before a ine of the pay was spoken, with a
engthy depi"tion of the end of the funera servi"e of the dead 5ing, and the pay
itsef ran for some three hours and twenty minutes, 0onohoe was in "hara"ter for
amost four hours). 0onohoe ooked young enough to be "redibe as a student
fresh from 2ittenberg and that youthfuness was underined by his modern
"ostume (the produ"tion as a whoe was e"e"ti" in its setting and dress, miCing
guns and swords, for eCampe, in a manner that 1i Rau"h seems to favour).
3amet@s madness was eCpressed by a form of sef!harm whi"h invoved him
using s"issors to "ut up his "othes, and the "othes of those around him. 3e was
in "ose "ommuni"ation with the ghost of his father, in part be"ause that Ghost
was payed by a deaf a"tor (3owie Seago in 0esert Storm "amoufage) and
3amet knew sign!anguage ! thus he had a uniEue understanding of the Ghost@s
message.
'. :he set was Euite bare for the first haf, its most striking feature being a grey wa
at the rear, the top of whi"h served as battements, and from whi"h the ights of
red se"urity "ameras shone out on the audien"e throughout the pay. :his was a
word of surveian"e, in whi"h, for eCampe, Opheia was given a hidden
mi"rophone, so that she "oud spy on 3amet a the more effe"tivey.
G. :he intermission "ame after the pay!within!a! pay (???.ii) and there was a "hange
in the set in the se"ond haf, so that the singe sweep of the stage was divided up
at times into smaer rooms. :his sorted we with the emphasis on intrigue,
spying and eavesdropping, and ed to a most unusua treatment of 6audius at his
prayers (???.iii) whi"h opened the se"ond haf. 2hereas the produ"tion had begun
with 3amet at prayer, its se"ond haf began with the dividing of the stage and
with 6audius rushing into a avatory (the toiet bow "ame up from beneath the
stage) to vomit. :his was a very twenty!first "entury rea"tion to 6audius@s
reaisation that his se"ret has been dis"overed, and it was a pie"e of business
whi"h made 3amet@s mistaken beief that 6audius was at prayer a the more
ironi"* 6audius was in effe"t praying to the por"eain god.
>. ?n addition to having the Ghost payed by a deaf a"tor, the produ"tion aso had
femae a"tors paying Rosen"rantB and Guidenstern, with a Stoppardian
"onfusion among the "ourt as to whi"h was whi"h. 3owever, the feature whi"h
grabbed most headines, and whi"h angered some members of the audien"e, was
that the pay!within!a!pay was performed as a hip!hop performan"e. :he entire
staging of this part of the pay "annot have o""upied more than a few moments,
but the rea"tion to it "oud easiy have ed those who had not seen this produ"tion
to beieve that the whoe pay was done in this stye. :he etters to the o"a press
signaed outrage among some of the audien"e, one of whom dubbed it @Fake!
speare@. ? did not have su"h an adverse rea"tion* it seemed to make the 8ayers
more part of the "uture of 3amet than that of 6audius, and to make it a the
more "redibe that 6audius did not immediatey reaise what the sub;e"t of their
pay might be.
H. One of the many probems for a dire"tor of Hamlet must be how to "ontrive it so
that the stage is empty at the times appropriate for 3amet to deiver his
soioEuies. :hat issue is first tested in ?.ii, and 1i Rau"h soved the matter
briianty* none of the "ourt eft the stage, they simpy froBe in position whie
3amet spoke. :he soioEuy was thus not ;ust a man speaking to himsef, but
rather a man speaking but heard ony by the audien"e and not be those on stage ! a
perfe"t parae to a Ghost whose anguage is understood ony by 3amet. For the
re"ord, 3amet@s fesh was @soid@ in this spee"h, and the Eueen in the 8ayer@s
spee"h in ??.ii was neither @mobed@ nor @innobed@ but @ignobed@,
I. :here was a great dea to admire in Susannah Food@s portraya of Opheia, and ?
mu"h en;oyed the way she e"hoed 8oonius@ ines of advi"e in ?.iii, whi"h had the
effe"t of at on"e under"utting the seriousness of his advi"e and aso suggesting
that this advi"e was part of a famiiar and famiia ritua. 2hat ? found mu"h
harder to understand, however, was that Opheia was on!stage in ?<.vii , a"ting
out her death in dumb!show whie Gertrude reported what she had seenJ ? "oud
not but fee sorry for Gertrude at having her best spee"h upstaged in this way.
%$. 9y fina reservation was of a different order. 7rmando 0uran is a fine a"tor, but ?
thought that he was mis"ast as 3oratio* in part this was be"ause it was diffi"ut to
a""ept that his was not the ma;or roe, and in part be"ause his "ostume seemed to
be from a different pay atogether, and proved a distra"tion to this member of the
audien"e, if to no other.
%%. Henry IV Part One was staged in the open air theatre, and made good use of the
s"ope of this spa"e. :here was a arge pi"ture of the "ru"ifiCion at the top of the
set, stairs between the eves, and a tabe at the "entre of the stage on the ower
eve. 6rossbeams buit into the set were iuminated at freEuent intervas, in this
produ"tion, perhaps to emphasise that this was a pay in whi"h fear of God was
sti a potent for"e. Su"h ines as 3a@s @?n the name of God@ in ???.ii were given an
eCtra resonan"e in this setting. 8arts of the ba"kdrop to the stage aso re"aed the
patterning of a "hess board, and this sorted we with a pay so mu"h "on"erned
with ta"ti"s and territoria gain.

%#. :he pay a"tuay began with the deposition of 3enry@s prede"essor from 7"t ?<
of !ichard II, presented on the upper eve of the stage. ?n "ontrast, the neCt time
this upper eve was in use was in the se"ond s"ene of the a"tua pay itsef, when
a "urtain was drawn ba"k to revea a bed in whi"h ay 3a, Fastaff and a woman.
:hat this was an earthy ow!ife miieu a"ted out here on an upper!eve was
further underined by the presen"e (and use) of a "hamber!pot in this s"ene.
3owever, good as 4ohn :ufts was in the roe of 8rin"e 3a, ? was never "onvin"ed
that he was reay part of this tavern ife* his innate nobiity "oud not be
disguised. 0avid 5ey, on the other hand, was uttery "ommanding as Fastaff, to
the eCtent that it seemed impossibe to re"a that he had payed 1enedi"k in
Much "do ony tweve months before. :he de"ision to use =iBabethan "ostumes
was probaby an advantage in the "asting of Fastaff, aowing 0avid 5ey to
"arry the ne"essary eCtra weight a the more easiy.
%D. :he roe of 8oins was payed by 3owie Seago, a deaf a"tor, and this "asting
worked very we indeed* athough Seago is normay sient, he was abe to voi"e
his "a for Fran"is in ??.ivJ indeed, he had severa in"reasingy franti" voi"es.
8oins is perhaps the ony one of the tavern "hara"ters to whom 3a reveas his
rea sef, and the "asting of Seago meant that 3a spoke aoud the words whi"h
8oins signed, and thus the diaogue between 3a and 8oins be"ame something
"ose to a monoogue from the 8rin"e.

%+. :his is one of those Shakespeare pays in whi"h differen"es between 1ritish
regions figure prominenty, but the a"tors in OSF produ"tions tend to use their
own 7meri"am a""ents, so there was no attempt at Aorth!=astern a""ent for
5evin 5enery@s 3otspurJ athough understandabe, this was something of a oss.
?n "ontrast, when Gendower@s name was mentioned by other "hara"ters, it was
given a 2esh infe"tion, with the a""ent on the midde syabe. 5enery is a
wonderfu a"tor, and it was a ;oy to wat"h him in a of his verba ;ousts a"ross the
whoe of the pay. :he siBe of the stage aso gave broad range for ;ousting of a
more physi"a kind, and the dire"tor took fu advantage of the opportunities
offered for staging the battes. :he Gadshi robbery was very amusing, not east
be"ause there was a pause in Fastaff@s s"reaming as he ran from the stage, ony
for the s"ream to be taken up again on"e he was out of sight.

%'. :here were severa o""asions on whi"h the teCt was handed with great
inteigen"eJ for eCampe, 3otspur@s gesture on the word @un;ointed@ in ?.iii "eary
gave that term the sense of @imp!wristed@, with a its "ontemporary "onnotations.
Simiary, @audien"e@ in the same s"ene very evidenty meant @hearing@, as it shoud,
and, when Fastaff used the phrase @0epose me@ in ??.iv, he was abe to evoke the
deposition of Ri"hard ?? be"ause we had seen that staged ;ust an hour before. :he
;oke on @reason@ and @raisin@ at ??.iv #DH!+$ "oud not be "arried through be"ause
shifts in pronun"iation sin"e Shakespeare@s day have meant that these two words
are no onger homonyms. For a rather different set of reasons, the referen"e in ?<.i
to 3arry with his @beaver@ on was "hanged to @hemet@. :here were two other
moments of detai whi"h ? mu"h appre"iated. One was in ???.iii, where the gesture
whi"h a""ompanied the phrase @Aewgate fashion@ made it abundanty "ear that
this meant @in hand"uffs@. :he other "ame at the death of 3otspur in <.iv, when
3a did not simpy "ompete the ine @food for worms@, but 3a and 3otspur were
aowed to say it together, making them two sides of the same "oin.

%G. :he intermission took pa"e at the end 7"t ?? as a the "hara"ters in the pay
began to prepare for war, and it was "ear from "onversations in the audien"e that
some peope were finding the poiti"a parts of the pot hard to foow* it was
probaby no easier for them in the se"ond haf. ? have the greatest respe"t for
7nthony 3ead as an a"tor, but his a""ent as Gendower was not se"ure (and he
had itte time on stage to make it more se"ure), and, "ouped with his fowing
"ostume and fowing o"ks, he was un"omfortaby reminis"ent of the S"ots
"omedian 1iy 6onnoy. 3owever, we did have rea 2esh speaking and a 2esh
song in this s"ene (???.i), and the musi" was parti"uary affe"ting. ?n "ontrast to
3ead, 4effrey 5ing seemed to have no diffi"uty at a with his a""ent as 0ougas
and was a "redibe S"ot in a of his s"enes in the se"ond haf of the pay.

%>. ?n #$%% the Festiva wi stage Henry IV Part Two, and in a ikeihood we sha
see Henry V in #$%#. :he diffi"uty with Part One is essentiay the probem
identified by some audien"e members in the intermission* however engaging the
Fastaff, however amusing the "omi" business, the histori"a burden of the
poiti"a parts of this pay is a heavy oad, and might have been more toerabe if
there had been a reveation when the wastre 3a be"ame the nobe 3a* in this
produ"tion there was no su"h reveation.
%H. Twelfth Night was a visua deight. :he set "onsisted of a "entra green, grass!ike
fat, eCtending up to the ba"ony eve, with a hinged fap et into it near the top.
:hus, there were three eves to this prin"ipa pie"e of s"enery* the owest eve,
whi"h had a door in the midde and "urves on ea"h side of that door, down whi"h
some "hara"ters were abe sideJ a window whi"h "oud be brought into pay
from time to time (notaby in the boC!tree s"ene, ??.v, and in the fina 7"t), and an
upper eve used ess freEuenty. :his "entra fat was fanked by "oumns and
"handeiers, and the set be"ame even more attra"tive as the night wore on,
espe"iay with the ighting effe"ts paying a"ross the upper stage. ?t was possiby
as beautifu a staging of any Shakespearean produ"tion as ? have seen, and
brought to my mind :erry 3andsF %IHD 1arbi"an produ"tion of Much "do "#out
Nothing.
%I. :his produ"tion emphasised on"e more the strength in depth that the Festiva has
in its a"ting "ompany. 9i"hae =i"h and ReC Koung "eary reished their roes
as Feste and 7gue"heek (ea"h having the opportunity to side down that grassy
fat), whist 9i"hae 4. 3ume was a not!espe"iay!fat Sir :oby, and 6hristopher
-iam 9oore perhaps the youngest 9avoio ? have seen eC"ept in student
produ"tions.
#$. :he "asting of Sebastian "an sometimes prove probemati", be"ause the prin"ipa
reEuirement "an often be that that a"tor ooks ike the a"tor paying <ioaJ
sometimes that "riterion "an take pre"eden"e over any demand to be a more!than!
"ompetent a"tor. 6hristopher 1arias did indeed ook Euite ike 1rooke 8arks, but
he was a fine a"tor in his own right, and was Euite "redibe as a over and a
fighter. 8erhaps more signifi"anty, the reunion of Sebastian and <ioa at the end
of the pay was both tou"hing and "redibe* this was the reationship whi"h
seemed to matter, not the pairings invoving Oivia and Orsino. ?ndeed, even at
the end of that fina s"ene, Oivia and Orsino were sti "hoosing the wrong
partners to go off with.
#%. :he programme notes tod us that this produ"tion woud bring together that
dire"tors@s twin interests in 9oBart and in Shakespeare, and we had "ostumes
from 9oBart@s time, with a white!fa"ed Feste in motey, and even some of
9oBart@s musi" (athough the on!stage musi" was aso very effe"tivey handed by
the two performers on vioin and woodwind). 3owever, ? did not agree that
9avoio@s threat of vengean"e at the end shoud be inked, as the programme said
to the @sound of a guiotine and a tabeau of gorgeous, smitten "hara"ters, a
"ut"hing their throats@* there was nothing in the previous %'$ minutes to ead up
to that. 7 further programme note suggested that the house of Twelfth Night was
spit!eve, with the nobes upstairs and the reveers beow* this simpy was not
"arried through at a in this produ"tion.
##. :he performan"e began with what is "ustomariy the se"ond s"ene of the pay. So
we began with a shipwre"k, ;ust as in the fim Sha$e%eare in Lo&e, and we began
with <ioa sti in a dress. 2hen the dis"ussion between <ioa and the Sea 6aptain
in this s"ene ed to the naming of Orsino and Oivia, those "hara"ters appeared
above on the upper eves, estabishing very Eui"ky and e"onomi"ay that this
was to a produ"tion whi"h woud make good use of visua "omi" business, and,
perhaps, pay ess attention to the teCt. :hus we had, for eCampe, some trimming
of Feste@s "omi" wordpay with <ioa in ???.i (ony four ines of this inter"hange
remained), and, instead mu"h physi"a humour.
#D. :here were severa instan"es of interpoated "omi" business. ?n ?.v, when <ioa
first visits Oivia@s house, she en"ountered three women in veis, who took it in
turn to "hange who was sitting in the singe on!stage "hair whenever <ioa@s
attention "oud be distra"ted. 2hen, in ??.iii, 9avoio entered to Euieten the
reveers, his hair was in "urers, and he was in his nightshirt, whi"h offered many
opportunities for business, espe"iay as other "hara"ters tried to ook underneath
it. ?n the boC!tree s"ene, ??.v, 7gue"heek, 1e"h and Fabian wat"hed 9avoio
from the window!fap near the top of the "entra fat, but graduay other
"hara"ters ;oined from both sides of the stage, so that many peope overheard
9avoio@s reading of the etter and his rea"tion to it. :here was one moment in
this s"ene whi"h ? espe"iay treasured* when 9avoio mused on his potentia
future (@:o be 6ount 9avoio@), 6hristopher -iam 9oore paused after @:o be@ ;ust
ong enough to make it a referen"e to Hamlet (and 9avoio, too, beieves that he
is aone when speaking this ine).
#+. :he interva was taken after ???.i, and, in some respe"ts, the arge set!pie"e s"ene
in the se"ond haf was the guing of 9avoio in ?<.ii. -ike the boC!tree s"ene
earier, this was payed as a s"ene invoving many members of the "ast, with a
bindfoded 9avoio being wheeed in a "age about the stage, whi"h was it at
that time in a urid, heish red. 9y probem with this s"ene was that its staging
diverted attention from 9avoio, whose part at that moment "oud have been
payed by a body!doube and nobody woud have been any the wiser. ? did not
fee that this did ;usti"e to 6hristopher -iam 9oore, espe"iay sin"e 9avoio@s
earier transformation to yeow!sto"kings a"tuay resuted in a tota "hange of
"ostume whi"h made his resembe 9oBart from "madeu.
#'. 9iriam 7. -aube@s Oivia was a feisty, rapa"ious woman, very mu"h in the moud
of 9ark Ryan"e@s version of this "hara"ter in the Gobe@s a!mae produ"tion in
-ondon in #$$#. ?t was a performan"e whi"h "eary deighted the audien"e, and
one in whi"h the mourning of the opening s"enes Eui"ky gave way to a seCy
romp, and her ba"k dress gave way to brightest red.
#G. :here were some o""asions when the interpretation of the teCt "aused me
misgivings. :he referen"e to dan"ing in ?.iii surey suggests a pronun"iation of
@sink a piss@ but this was not what was said in this produ"tion. :he referen"e to a
@pi"ture@ in ???.iv is usuay taken to be something portabe ike a o"ket, but here a
fu!siBe portrait "ompete with a stand was brought on to the stage, where it
stayed, hampering the a"tion, for severa minutes. 7nd, as is often the "ase,
7gue"heek was dressed in yeow, but when, in ??.v, it is reveaed that this is a
"oour whi"h Oivia abhors, there was no sign of dis"omfort from him or of
ridi"ue from the others on the stage at that time. Finay, ? am a""ustomed to
having 7ntonio eft aone and stranded in the fina s"ene after the other pairings
have been "ompeted, but mu"h ess was made of 7ntonio at the end of this
produ"tion than is usua.
#>. The Merchant of Venice had, ike Twelfth Night, an unusua opening, and one
whi"h had been reveaed to me on a tour of the theatre workshops. 2e were
shown part of the set in the pro"ess of "onstru"tion ! an ornate "o"k with a
gaeon as its "entra design ! and we were tod that the produ"tion woud begin
with the "ourt s"ene, and that the "o"k woud then rewind as the a"tion went ba"k
to the opening s"ene.
#H. ?n the event, it was Euite "ear, on entering the theatre, that the stage was set for a
tria, with that "o"k very mu"h "entre!stage. :he pay began with 8ortia speaking
nine of her words from the tria s"ene (L2hi"h is the mer"hant here, and whi"h
the 4ewM@), whereupon the set was stru"k, the "o"k ran ba"kwards and we were
returned to what is usuay the beginning of the pay. ? am reay not sure what the
audien"e was intended to make of this opening, uness it was simpy to indi"ate
that Shyo"k and 7ntonio were indistinguishabe one from the other* if that was
the intention, it was a very eaborate way of making this point, and this
inter"hangeabiity was not "arried through into the produ"tion as a whoe.
#I. :here was in fa"t a very "ear distin"tion made between 4ewish <eni"e and
6hristian <eni"e* the 4ewish s"enes had 4ewish musi" and a washing!ine
stret"hed a"ross the stage. :he 6hristian s"enes sometimes had signs iuminated
at the ba"k of the stage to te the audien"e that the a"tion was taking pa"e in a
"afe, or a bar, at the notary or, in the "ase of ?.i, at the barber. ? am not "onvin"ed
that this signage was at a ne"essary, and in the opening s"ene, the sign did not
resove what was for me the greater "onfusion as to whether the barber was
supposed to be :uba (a roe payed by this same a"tor ater in this produ"tion).
Shyo"k was "ertainy different enough and aien enough to pronoun"e 4a"ob as
Kakob in ?.iii.
D$. :his was an e"e"ti" interpretation, miCing "oaks and ;eans, having a gondoa
onstage for the fight of 4essi"a, and aowing Aerissa to have a aptop in the "ourt
room (whi"h itsef had mi"rophones). :he programme for the produ"tion and the
arti"es in the o"a press "aimed that this e"e"ti"ism was part of an attempt to be
in"usive, and to indi"ate that pre;udi"e is shown not ony to 4ews but aso to
ba"ks, 7rabs and homoseCuas. :he 8rin"e of 9oro""o, payed by ba"k a"tor
8eter 9a"on, was "ertainy treated with "ontempt, as was the 8rin"e of 7rragon
(7rmando 0uran), but both roes were aso payed for a their "omi" potentia,
espe"iay that of 7rragon, "ompete with guitar!paying attendant and ubiEuitous
fan. 9oro""o eft behind a save in 1emont, given the name Fatima in this
produ"tion, and perhaps this was intended to signa pre;udi"e toward 7rabs. ?
"oud find no rea indi"ation of pre;udi"e towards homoseCuas, uness that was
impied in the reationship between 7ntonio and 1assanio, and in the fa"t that
7ntonio was eft aone on the stage at the end of the pay.
D%. :he staging was su"h as to aow fuid movement between s"enes* when eCtra
"hairs or tabes were needed on the ower eve, they were brought on by members
of the ensembe. :he upper eve was used for 1emont Euite freEuenty in the
first haf (the intermission "ame after ???.i, with a fine Riato bridge downstage)
but 1emont o""upied the ower eve in the fina 7"t of the pay.
D#. 7nthony 3ead@s Shyo"k was a triumph, and ? parti"uary iked the way in whi"h
he made it seem as if the idea for the bond with 7ntonio "ame to Shyo"k
"ompetey out of the bue. ?t may be one sign of a reay fine a"tor that the
audien"e is abe to see the thought pro"ess a"tuay happening, and that was
"ertainy the "ase here.
DD. ?n addition to having the faied suitors payed in "omi" fashion, the ighter aspe"ts
of the pay were we done. 9ark 1edard was eC"eptiona as a very physi"a
Gobbo, throwing himsef a"ross the stage as he wrested with his "ons"ien"e in
??.ii, and Gregory -inington@s Gratiano was ;ust the sort of a"erbi" wit you woud
not wish to "ross in a hurry, espe"iay if you were not part of his insider group.
2ith his wid hair sprouting from his head, he seemed to be in "harge of a most
unpeasant band of young 6hristian men, notaby in the "ourt s"ene (?<.i), the
staging of whi"h mirrored the tria of 5atherine in Henry VIII in the same theatre
in the #$$I season (on both o""asions a"tors were pa"ed on top of the
vomitarium, opening up the whoe performan"e arena). For me, this s"ene was
something of a disappointment unti the entran"e of 8ortia. <ima Siva had
seemed eminenty in "ontro ba"k in 1emont, but the siBe of the "ourt!room stage
served to emphasise her a"k of height and her vunerabiity ! she triumphed
through her intee"t, be"ause that was a the strength she had.
D+. 7t the end of the tria, two nuns stepped forward to pu"k the yarmuke from
Shyo"k@s head ! on the night when ? saw the pay, the audien"e aughed at this
in"ident. :hey did not augh when, a moment ater, one member of the audien"e,
seeing through the pot when the young awyer @1athasar@ demands a ring as a fee
from 1assanio, yeed out @:hat@s his wifeN@. :hat is ive theatre.
D'. :he fina 7"t of this pay is very diffi"ut to stage su""essfuy, espe"iay if
Shyo"k has done his ;ob. ?n this produ"tion, we had a strong sense that a had
not gone we in 1emont in the absen"e of 8ortia* drunkenness and
irresponsibiity seemed to have be"ome the norm whie -orenBo had been in
"harge. :here was aso a rea sense of antipathy between 4essi"a and 8ortia, whi"h
? do not re"a having seen in other produ"tions of this pay.
DG. ?n Throne of Blood, the OSF went ba"k to Mac#eth again* the pay itsef had been
part as the #$$I season, as was E'ui&ocation, a pay in part "on"erned with the
writing of Mac#ethJ here, 8ing 6hong adapted 5urosawa@s %I'> fim adaptation
of Mac#eth for the stage.
D>. :his word premier produ"tion, staged one hundred years after 5urosawa@s birth,
retained a fimi" Euaity in many respe"t, be"ause there were moments when
pro;e"tions were used above the stage, either to transate the 4apanese of the
proogue and epiogue, or to "ompement the a"tion visuay by, for eCampe,
showing bossoms "hanging "oour and faing. :he stage itsef was kept
reativey bare, and the minimum of essentia furniture and props was brought on
by the "ast as ne"essary, or, in the "ase of the patform for the spinning whee of
the Forest Spirit, it was dragged on. :here was no intermission and no use of the
"urtain between s"ene!"hanges. :he ony time when the stage was dark was ;ust
before the fina entran"e of 2ashiBu after he had been shot by arrows (it "eary
took severa moments for this "ostume!"hange to be effe"ted). :he "ostumes and
many aspe"ts of the set mirrored the fim, su"h as the use of s"reens, and the
seeping of bood on to a s"reen at the time of the death of the -ord.
DH. 5evin 5enery and 0anforth 6omins were masterfu in the two "entra maes
roes of 2ashiku and 9iki, but the performan"e of 7ko as -ady 7sa;i was the
most impressive of the produ"tion. She was "eary we!versed in the styised
movements and gestures of 4apanese theatre, and payed her roe to perfe"tion.
6ristofer 4ean, as the Forest Spirit, was not reEuired to move at a, but he
eChibited the fu range of his vo"a skis, and might have been ;ust as "hiing
even without the benefit of sound effe"ts.
DI. 8ing 6hong deserves a great dea of "redit for his adaptation as we as for his
dire"tion. 3e in;e"ted an eCtra eement into 5urosawa@s narrative by deveoping
and eCtending the roes given to the "horus of sodiers. :heir "ommentary on the
a"tion added ighter moments to the narrative, and this "omi" reief aso featured
in the first "ourt s"ene in whi"h the -ord "hided 2ashiku and 9iki for osing their
way in the forest and, as a @punishment@ stripped them of their "ommissions, ony
to reward them even more ampy a moment ater (an in"ident not part of
5urosawa@s s"reenpay).
+$. :he di"tion was styised and forma, ike that of the subtites to 5urosawa@s fim. ?
noted phrasings su"h as @your thoughts and mine share "ommon ground@,
@auspi"ious tidings@ and @imbibe@ for @drink@. Sometimes the di"tion was eCtended to
in"ude phrases from other Shakespeare pays* ? noted @Something wi"ked this
way "omes@, @pound of fesh@ and @a@s we that ends we@. 8erhaps the most
teing, however, was a phrase whi"h was a Shakespearean e"ho rather than a
dire"t Euotation* when -ady 7sa;i was urging her husband to assassinate his
friend, her words @5i 9iki@ brought to mind 1eatri"e@s impassioned pea to
1enedi"k @5i 6audio@.
+%. ? was surprised that Throne of Blood did not attra"t arger audien"es, and did not
be"ome, as ? hoped it woud, the eEuivaent of E'ui&ocation from the #$$I season
(whi"h ran in Seatte with the origina "ast and was then staged in a different
produ"tion in Aew Kork). :his produ"tion of Throne of Blood wi be seen at the
1rookyn 7"ademy of 9usi" in Aovember #$%$, and deserves an even wider
pubi". 8erhaps the reason why that pubi" did not fo"k to see the origina at OSF
was that too mu"h was eCpe"ted of themM :o know enough of Mac#eth to en;oy
E'ui&ocation is one thing, to be eCpe"ted to have seem 5urosawa@s fim may be a
step too far.
+#. ?n "on"usion, the #$%$ season at OSF saw the staging of four of Shakespeare
pays, a of whi"h were dire"ted and performed with inteigen"e, and a but one
of whi"h attra"ted arge audien"es. 3owever, not one of these produ"tions started
with what woud "onventionay have been the opening s"ene. ?n the "ase of
Henry IV Part One, the atered opening provided an appropriate ink to the first
pay in this tetraogy (a ink whi"h woud have worked even more effe"tivey had
!ichard II been staged in the #$$I season)J in Hamlet, the "hange was not at a
;arring, be"ause it happened as the members of the audien"e were taking their
seatsJ in :he Merchant of Venice and in Twelfth Night, it was hard to see any
reason to have these different openings, eC"ept to fit a pattern.
ork !ited
The !i&eride Sha$e%eare, ed. G. 1akemore =vans (1oston* 3oughton 9iffin,
%I>+).

Responses to this pie"e intended for the Readers@ Forum may be sent to the =ditor at 9.Stegge@shu.a".uk.
O #$%%!, 7nnaiese 6onnoy and 9atthew Stegge (=ditors, EMLS).