Pericles

SYNOPSIS Pericles was one of the great crowd-pleasers of its day. A political pamphlet of 1609 describes its author being so amazed at the size of a rebellious mob I thought all these came to see Pericles! Pericles is neither a Greek tragedy nor a history play. It has nothing to do with the great Athenian general and politician. Shakespeares Pericles is an entirely fictitious character, the star of a play that is a combination of romantic adventure yarn, myth, legend and medieval chivalry. It is written on an epic scale with echoes of Homers Odyssey and relies on visual spectacle, music, song, dance and martial action as well as its story telling. Shakespeare found the plot in a poem by the fourteenth century bard John Gower and brings him on stage as the narrator of Pericles. Gower is a charming old yarn-spinner with a quaint sense of humour. Shakespeare writes his monologues with a nursery-rhyme simplicity an affectionate parody of Chaucerian English. The play whisks us from one exotic location to another as fate hurls Pericles into various adventures. We find him first in the decadent city of Antioch seeking a Princess Bride, but he has to flee the clutches of her murderous father. Sailing to Tarsus he is able to relieve the city of famine and becomes a national hero. But on his way home to Tyre he is shipwrecked on the coast of the kingdom of Pentapolis. Rescued by fishermen, he journeys to the palace and takes place in a tournament, winning the hand of the Princess Thaisa. Their match is sealed during a great banquet with music and dance. Nine months later Pericles and Thaisa (now pregnant) set out again for Tyre, but once more the malignant Neptune whips up a mighty storm. Thaisa dies in childbirth and the superstitious sailors insist her body be cast overboard in a coffin so that the storm will cease. The grief stricken Pericles names his baby daughter Marina because she was born at sea. Thaisas coffin is washed up on the shore of Ephesus and carried to the house of a wise healer name Cerimon. Opening the coffin, he realizes that Thaisa is still alive and is able to revive her. With her consent he takes her to the temple of Diana to be cared for by the nuns. Pericles leaves the baby Marina in the care of the Governor of Tarsus and his wife Dionyza, who are deeply indebted to him for their relief from the famine. But as Marina grows up, Dionyza becomes increasingly envious because her own daughter cannot match Marinas beauty and talent. She appoints an assassin to kill Marina who is luckily rescued by pirates but then sold to a brothel in Mytilene. Here her beauty and virtue convert all the customers, including the Governor, Lysimachus. The brothel keepers are delighted to get rid of her as she is ruining their business. Returning to Tarsus to claim Marina, Pericles is told by Dionyza that his daughter is dead and he is shown her tomb. Distraught, he returns to sea but becomes increasingly reclusive until he can neither hear nor speak, such is the depth of his despair. His ship arrives at Mytilene. The Governor Lysimachus hears about the strange recluse and sends for Marina whose healing powers may cure him. Marina sings to Pericles to awaken him from his comatose state and tells him the story of her life. On realizing that this is his daughter, Pericles is transported to a state of ecstasy.

A vision of Diana appears to him bidding him to give thanks at her temple in Ephesus. On arrival there, he is recognized by Thaisa: father, mother and daughter are reunited. So ends the tale. Pericles is one of Shakespeares last plays, written when he was about forty-five. Like the other plays of this period it deals with magic, the supernatural, reconciliation and optimism. Themes of shipwreck, families being divided then reunited, questing and adventure are common; they hark back to one of Shakespeares earliest plays The Comedy of Errors, where again a family is split up at sea and reunited in Ephesus. Pericles is a very visual drama. Spectacle and action are an essential part of it and this will be realized in Bell Shakespeares production, the most lavish and ambitious the Company has staged. Award-winning designer, Julie Lynch, has created a dazzling array of sets and costumes with an exotic and timeless Asian reference. This is in keeping with the music, created and performed by the dynamic TaikOz drummers who will be on stage throughout, joining in the singing, dancing and martial arts as well as providing pounding rhythms and plaintive Japanese flute music. Led by star performer Marcus Graham in the title role, a strong ensemble of actors will unite with the musicians to provide an exhilarating and uplifting parable, an epic tale of adventure, misfortune, endurance and virtue crowned with joy at last.