Briana Manente and Caitlin Partidge (Patrick Lachance)
Cymbeline is one of William Shakespeare’s most comically convoluted narratives, and Theatre Prometheus’ latest production embraces its inherent absurdity—yet their dedication to mining the text for laughs is only half the equation. Sure, the Bard’s plays were originally performed by an all-male cast. But Director Tracey Erbacher’s decision to gender swap key roles succeeds not only in “making Shakespeare gay again” but in finding new textures in the play’s many interconnected relationships.
A plot summary would be a fool’s errand. It’s all one big, Gordian knot of farcical entanglements. At the center is the forbidden romance between Imogen (Caitlin Partridge) and Posthumus (Briana Manente). In the text, Imogen’s father King Cymbeline (Christopher Holbert) disapproves of Posthumus because he isn’t of royal blood, but here, homophobia is the root cause. This alteration adds nuance to the brief interactions between the King and Posthumus, whom Cymbeline has raised as his own.
The dramatic business of keeping our lovebirds apart quickly develops into a mountain of narrative complications. Posthumus falls for a foolish wager with Iachomo (Jonathan Rizzardi), a sleazy manipulator who bets he can sleep with the seemingly innocent Imogen. The failed seduction attempt sets off a domino effect of mistaken identity, twists, and revelations. Oh, and top of every other theatrical machination Shakespeare threw at the wall, a war breaks out.
This isn’t the easiest story to follow, with myriad character allegiances, secret plots, and dueling opinions on same sex relationships. But the cast has so much fun with the text that any confusion that may arise from the labyrinthine structure immediately dissipates in uproarious comedy. The performers luxuriate in the Bard’s linguistic dance routines, and everyone involved operates on a high level. The biggest scene-stealer may be Zach Boylan, with his duncey bro take on Cloten, a triumph of off-kilter delivery and timing. Rizzardi, too, turns Iachomo, essentially a scummier Iago, into a sinfully entertaining display of degeneracy.
Partridge and Manente’s romance is at turns smoldering, adorable, hilarious, and tragic, with both actors flitting between the stages with ease. The show’s final scene, essentially a long explanation of every plot strand that’s unfolded, is hilarious because the staging accepts (and exacerbates) how ludicrous this endless exposition becomes. But when the well-earned happy endings are doled out, they still resonate. The show pokes fun at itself without demeaning the emotional realities of its characters.
All they really changed were the pronouns, with the occasional addition of some colorful vulgarity for punctuation, or humorously placed needle drops of modern pop music for transitions. But these simple modifications breathe vital new life into one of Shakespeare’s less celebrated works.
[gay] Cymbeline runs through January 29th at The Anacostia Arts Center on 1231 Good Hope Road. Tickets are available here.
