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Reviewed by:
  • Cymbeline
  • Elizabeth Abele
Cymbeline A Fiasco Theater production presented by Theatre for a New Audience, New York, New York. New Victory Theater, January 18-30, 2011; Barrow Street Theatre, August 27-December 31, 2011. Conceived by Jessie Austrian, Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld. Directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld.Scenic Design by Jean-Guy Lecat. Costume Designer by Whitney Locher.Lighting Designer by Tim Cryan. Fabulous Trunk by Jacques Roy. Music by Ben Steinfeld. With: Jessie Austrian (Imogen), Noah Brody (Posthumus, Roman Captain), Paul L. Coffey (Pisanio, Philario, Caius Lucius, Guiderius), Andy Grotelueschen (Cymbeline, Cloten, Cornelius), Ben Steinfeld (Iachimo, Arviragus), and Emily Young (Queen, Frenchman, Belaria).

After being absent from Broadway for more than 80 years, Cymbeline has now made two uptown New York appearances within five years: the Lincoln Center Theatre's production at the Vivian Beaumont in 2007; [End Page 635] and the Theatre for a New Audience's presentation of the Fiasco Theater company at the New Victory Theatre (42nd Street). Surprisingly, the more modest production was the more satisfying.

The Lincoln Center production approached this sprawling fairy tale with opulent jewel-toned costumes and towering, gold-leafed set pieces.The show brought together Broadway royalty for its mythical kingdom:John Cullum, Phylicia Rashad, Martha Plimpton and Michael Cerveris.This production's focus on the opulence of the court and the melodramatic circumstances created a ponderous universe that the text was unable to support.

By contrast, the New Victory Theatre's stage was stripped to its back brick wall, drapes partially shaping its playing space—with a versatile trunk as the major set piece, aided only by two cubes and a sheet. The Fiasco Theater's ensemble of six were costumed in muted clothes suggestive of Renaissance street clothes. When not performing, the actors sat on blocks, providing musical accompaniment. This collaborative troupe has been working together since their days at Brown University, and they credit their experience at Trinity Rep with defining their aesthetic. Instead of developing their productions around "star" performances, their direction showcases the individual virtuosity of its performers in the service of storytelling.

The Fiasco Theater first brought its production of Cymbeline to New York at the Access Theatre, a showcase theatre of 70 seats. The New Victory Theatre spreads its 499-seats between an orchestra section and two small balconies, so that all audience members are fairly close to the performers. To maintain this intimacy, the production was performed with the house lights up, so that the actors could see the audience, making them an active part of the performance. Coincidentally, I had seen two members of Fiasco Theatre a few weeks before on Broadway in Bloody,Bloody Andrew Jackson—a production that likewise depended on an ensemble of actor-singers to tell its story. However, while BBAJ enjoyed its hip (often exclusionary) references, Fiasco's staging of Cymbeline is designed for all audiences.

In their production notes, the directors fully acknowledge the ambivalent reputation of Cymbeline. Under the heading "Perspectives," the program includes quotations about the play from Samuel Johnson, Henry James, and Harley Granville-Barker about its inconsistent quality. While George Bernard Shaw denounced Cymbeline as "most part stagey trash of the most melodramatic order, in parts abominably written," Virginia Woolf found within it the best line in almost any play— "Hang there [End Page 636]


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Fig 6.

Paul L. Coffey and Jessie Austrian in Fiasco Theater and Theatre for a New Audience's 2011 production of Cymbeline, directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld. Photo courtesy of Ari Mintz.


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Fig 7.

Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld (ground) duel in Fiasco Theater and Theatre for a New Audience's 2011 production of Cymbeline, directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld. Photo courtesy of Ari Mintz.

[End Page 637]

like fruit, my Soul, till the tree die"—which she said could "send a shiver down you spine, even if you are in the middle of cold grouse and coffee."On a technical level, Peter Hall pointed out that the last scene contained seventeen anagnorises, which makes it a "beast to stage."

But instead...

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