From a press release:
“Pericles, Prince of Tyre” opens at NC Stage, Aug. 20
North Carolina Stage Company (NC Stage) is excited to begin its 13th season with one of Shakespeare’s grandest adventures, Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
Pericles begins his quest when the King of Antioch offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to any man who can solve his riddle. With all the elements of a good adventure, this is the epic story of one man as he tries to solve a mystery that takes him on a journey that spans the globe. He finds himself in a world complete with villains and heroes, pirates and kings. This is an adventure you don’t want to miss.
This production started as an exciting vision by director Ron Bashford. He and a group of professional actors did workshops around the text to create a bold, imaginative, and playful interpretation of this Shakespearean adventure story.
Says Artistic Director Charlie Flynn-McIver, “Shakespeare is often approached like a novel: as literature. And that’s a problem! The best way to understand Shakespeare is on stage. The process the actors have worked through makes the language crystal clear. In rehearsal, I have been moved to laughter and tears by the other actors with the truth and clarity they are bringing to the text.”North Carolina Stage Company is Asheville’s only professional equity theatre celebrating its 13th year producing plays for the Asheville community. Founded by Charlie and Angie Flynn-McIver, the theatre has been voted best local theatre 9 out of the past 10 years in the Mountain Xpress Best of WNC Poll. NC Stage was also recently awarded the American Theatre Wing National Theatre Company Grant.
Pericles, Prince of Tyre Information:
Where: North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville, NC
Dates: August 20th—September 14th, 2014
Performance: Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM, Sunday at 2:00 PM
Ticket Prices: $14-$32. Student tickets $10 anytime! Never any fees.
Pay-What-You-Can: Wednesday, August 20th
I have to admit a couple of things about this play. First the venue and actors are very very good. But the play in general was disappointing for the following reasons:
1) the opening scene is cult like and without knowing the play, this is very odd and often uncomfortable
2) the directing was responsible over all for the lack of creativity of having 5 actors play 30 characters. The actors showed they were incredible to do this and remember all those lines. but the outfits were disappointing. A tie dye pants and dress really? for that time? and so closely snug? really for the roman days? they dressed in layers AND LAYERS. this would have been better if the costumes were removed as they went or that they had flip down or flip up tops with dif fabrics.
3) the first act was said too fast for us to understand. slow down in this presentation please.
hope my feedback provides an opportunity for growth as Shakespeare’s plays are made to make us think and entertain us. This was not the case because of these reasons.
One of the best things about Shakespeare is that his stories are timeless. Many have tried to translate his plays for modern audiences. Few succeed as well as North Carolina Stage did with this production! It is truly one of the most creative, engaging, fun, emotionally riveting presentations of a Shakespeare play (or for that matter, any play) that I have ever seen. The first time I attended (yes, it is THAT good that I would go more than once) – every person in my group was in awe of the incredible acting and swept away by the story. The stellar cast brought the adventures to life in a way that even those of us who are not familiar with Pericles or Shakespeare in general were completely drawn into the adventures of the hero. Five stars from everyone in our group – and we’re out recruiting new audience members because this is a not-to-be-missed experience!