You’ve probably all heard of the Avengers. You’ve probably not heard of the Revenger's.
The Prenzie Players' production of The Revenger’s Tragedy takes a dark look at ambition, lust, a lover’s vengeance, and the drive to achieve it, and is lacking any real superheroes. Director Matt Moody modernizes this Thomas Middleton play written in the early 1600s mostly with the employment of modern clothing, and although the work is centuries old, a lot of its subject matter, unfortunately, is still relevant today.
I came across a quote this past week that read: "A true friend talks trash to your face and is fiercely loyal behind your back." While the sentiment came to my attention at a particularly poignant time for me personally, it also fits almost perfectly with the core theme in William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, currently being presented by the Prenzie Players.
Much of Friday's performance of the Prenzie Players' Antony & Cleopatra played almost like a romantic comedy. Director Kate Farence's staging of William Shakespeare's tragedy feels lighter and funnier than perhaps the material calls for, with the titular couple enjoying their post-Julius Caesar relationship - and ultimately dealing with Rome's political power plays and battles - amidst a den of hedonism, with hippie-esque attendants engaging in swinging orgies and drug use. Matt Moody's set design even has the lovers reclining on a tiered platform covered in colorful pillows and blankets, a seeming nod to the pair's interest in each other over the power of a throne. And the personality in Farence's production proves titillating - and should make the show more palatable for those who might not enjoy a stuffier version.
The local theatre troupe the Prenzie Players is most commonly known for stylistically bold, occasionally gender-bending takes on classical dramas and comedies, principally the works of William Shakespeare. But the company is about to embark on a particularly challenging experiment with its forthcoming production of the debuting Bear Girl - and the play's author, Prenzie co-founder J.C. Luxton, could hardly be accused of aiming too low.
Playwright Lee Blessing's A Walk in the Woods successfully re-creates a sense of the Reagan-era Cold War conflict between the United States and the then-Soviet Union ... at least according to an older friend of mine who also attended Friday's performance of New Ground Theatre's production. However, my theatre-going companion also agreed with me that the play is reminiscent of the film My Dinner with Andre, famed for simply being a conversation between two people in one setting. And Blessing's story is just that - a series of discussions between a U.S. and Russian diplomat sitting, or sometimes standing near, a park bench. For two hours.
There are moments of magic in the Prenzie Players' Romeo & Juliet, beginning with the first words heard in the prologue: "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene." These lines are delivered in the midst of a sword fight that spreads across the acting space - the fighters freeze, ethereal music wafts in from above, and Adam Overberg delivers Shakespeare's well-known introduction, setting the stage for this tale of ill-fated, star-crossed lovers. The moment is stunningly executed, and sets in motion an excitement for what's to come.
Even if you didn't know that Genesius Guild's Henry the Sixth: The Contention was an amalgamation of Shakespeare's Henry VI: Parts I and II - with Part III opening on July 17 - and didn't know that the production was directed and adapted by Guild founder Don Wooten, it's likely that your first glimpse at the program would be enough to intimidate you.
With the current Much Ado About Nothing, I've now attended 10 presentations by the classical-theatre troupe the Prenzie Players, and perhaps fittingly, it's maybe the most sheerly Prenzie Prenzie production I've yet seen.
