Pericles Prince of Tyre
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was published in 1609 as a quarto, was not included in Shakespeare's collections of works until the third folio, and the main inspiration for the play was Gower's '' Confessio Amantis''. Various arguments support the theory that Shakespeare was the sole author of the play, notably in DelVecchio and Hammond's Cambridge edition of the play, but modern editors generally agree that Shakespeare was responsible for almost exactly half the play — 827 lines — the main portion after scene 9 that follows the story of Pericles and Marina. Modern textual studies suggest that the first two acts, 835 lines detailing the many voyages of Pericles, were written by a collaborator, who may well have been the
victualler A victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea. There are a number of other more particular uses of the term, such as: * The official supplier of food to the Royal Navy in ...
,
panderer Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...
, dramatist and
pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
eer George Wilkins.Vickers, Brian. ''Shakespeare, Co-Author'', Oxford UP, 2002, pp. 291–293. Wilkins published ''The Painful Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre'' which is the prose version of the story, and drew from Lawrence Twines' ''
The Pattern of Painful Adventures ''The Pattern of Painful Adventures'' (1576) is a prose novel. A later edition, printed in 1607 by Valentine Simmes and published by Nathaniel Butter, was drawn on by William Shakespeare for his play ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''. There was at le ...
''. ''Pericles'' was one of the seven plays that were in print during Shakespeare's life, and was reprinted 5 times between 1609 and 1635.


Characters

* Antiochus – king of Antioch * Pericles – Prince of Tyre * Helicanus and Escanes – two lords of Tyre * Simonides – king of Pentapolis * Cleon – governor of Tarsus * Lysimachus – governor of Mytilene * Cerimon – a lord of Ephesus * Thaliard – a lord of Antioch * Philemon – servant to Cerimon * Leonine – servant to Dionyza * Marshal * A Pandar (male owner of a brothel) * Boult – The Pandar's servant * The Daughter of Antiochus * Dionyza – wife to Cleon * Thaisa – daughter to Simonides, Pericles' wife * Marina – daughter to Pericles and Thaisa * Lychorida – nurse to Marina * A Bawd (female owner of a brothel) * Diana * Gower as Chorus * Lords, Knights, Gentlemen, Sailors, Pirates, Fisherman, and Messengers


Synopsis

John Gower introduces each act with a prologue. The play opens in the court of Antiochus, king of Antioch, who has offered the hand of his beautiful daughter to any man who answers his riddle; but those who fail shall die.
I am no Viper, yet I feed On mother's flesh which did me breed: I sought a husband, in which labour, I found that kindness in a father; He's father, son, and husband mild, I mother, wife; and yet his child: How they may be, and yet in two, As you will live resolve it you.
Pericles, the young Prince (ruler) of Tyre in Phoenicia ( Lebanon), hears the riddle, and instantly understands its meaning: Antiochus is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. If he answers incorrectly, he will be killed, but if he reveals the truth, he will be killed anyway. Pericles hints that he knows the answer, and asks for more time to think. Antiochus grants him forty days, and then sends an assassin after him. However, Pericles has fled the city in disgust. Pericles returns to Tyre, where his trusted friend and counsellor Helicanus advises him to leave the city, for Antiochus surely will hunt him down. Pericles leaves Helicanus as regent and sails to Tarsus, a city beset by
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
. The generous Pericles gives the governor of the city, Cleon, and his wife Dionyza, grain from his ship to save their people. The famine ends, and after being thanked profusely by Cleon and Dionyza, Pericles continues on. A storm wrecks Pericles' ship and washes him up on the shores of
Pentapolis A pentapolis (from Greek ''penta-'', 'five' and ''polis'', 'city') is a geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities. Cities in the ancient world probably formed such groups for political, commercial and military reasons, as happened ...
. He is rescued by a group of poor fishermen who inform him that Simonides, King of Pentapolis, is holding a tournament the next day and that the winner will receive the hand of his daughter Thaisa in marriage. Fortunately, one of the fishermen drags Pericles' suit of armour on shore that very moment, and the prince decides to enter the tournament. Although his equipment is rusty, Pericles wins the tournament and the hand of Thaisa (who is deeply attracted to him) in marriage. Simonides initially expresses doubt about the union, but soon comes to like Pericles and allows them to wed. A letter sent by the noblemen reaches Pericles in Pentapolis, who decides to return to Tyre with the pregnant Thaisa. Again, a storm arises while at sea, and Thaisa appears to die giving birth to her child, Marina. The sailors insist that Thaisa's body be set overboard in order to calm the storm. Pericles grudgingly agrees, and decides to stop at Tarsus because he fears that Marina may not survive the storm. Luckily, Thaisa's casket washes ashore at
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
near the residence of Lord Cerimon, a physician who revives her. Thinking that Pericles died in the storm, Thaisa becomes a priestess in the temple of Diana. Pericles departs to rule Tyre, leaving Marina in the care of Cleon and Dionyza. Marina grows up more beautiful than Philoten the daughter of Cleon and Dionyza, so Dionyza plans Marina's murder. The plan is thwarted when pirates kidnap Marina and then sell her to a brothel in Mytilene. There, Marina manages to keep her virginity by convincing the men that they should seek virtue. Worried that she is ruining their market, the brothel rents her out as a tutor to respectable young ladies. She becomes famous for music and other decorous entertainments. Meanwhile, Pericles returns to Tarsus for his daughter. The governor and his wife claim she has died; in grief, he takes to the sea. Pericles' wanderings bring him to Mytilene where the governor Lysimachus, seeking to cheer him up, brings in Marina. They compare their sad stories and joyfully realise they are father and daughter. Next, the goddess Diana appears in a dream to Pericles, and tells him to come to the temple where he finds Thaisa. The wicked Cleon and Dionyza are killed when their people revolt against their crime. Lysimachus will marry Marina.


Sources

The play draws upon two sources for the plot. The first is '' Confessio Amantis'' (1393) of John Gower, an English poet and contemporary of
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
. This provides the story of
Apollonius of Tyre Apollonius of Tyre is the subject of an ancient short novella, popular in the Middle Ages. Existing in numerous forms in many languages, the text is thought to be translated from an ancient Greek manuscript, now lost. Plot summary In most versi ...
. The second source is the Lawrence Twine prose version of Gower's tale, ''
The Pattern of Painful Adventures ''The Pattern of Painful Adventures'' (1576) is a prose novel. A later edition, printed in 1607 by Valentine Simmes and published by Nathaniel Butter, was drawn on by William Shakespeare for his play ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''. There was at le ...
'', dating from c. 1576, reprinted in 1607. A third related work is ''The Painful Adventures of Pericles'' by George Wilkins, published in 1608. But this seems to be a "novelization" of the play, stitched together with bits from Twine; Wilkins mentions the play in the Argument to his version of the storyF. E. Halliday, A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964, Baltimore, Penguin, 1964 – so that Wilkins' novel derives from the play, not the play from the novel. Wilkins, who with Shakespeare was a witness in the
Bellott v. Mountjoy ''Bellott v Mountjoy'' was a lawsuit heard at the Court of Requests in Westminster on 11 May 1612 that involved William Shakespeare in a minor role. Case details Stephen Bellott, a Huguenot, sued his father-in-law Christopher Mountjoy, a tyre ...
lawsuit of 1612, has been an obvious candidate for the author of the non-Shakespearean matter in the play's first two acts; Wilkins wrote plays very similar in style, and no better candidate has been found. The choruses spoken by Gower were influenced by Barnabe Barnes's ''
The Diuils Charter ''The Devil's Charter'' is an early Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Barnabe Barnes. The play recounts the story of Pope Alexander VI. Date, performance, publication ''The Devil's Charter'' dates from 1607; it was acted by the Ki ...
'' (1607) and by '' The Trauailes of the Three English Brothers'' (1607), by John Day, William Rowley, and Wilkins.


Date and text

Most scholars support 1607 or early 1608 as most likely, which accords well with what is known about the play's likely co-author, George Wilkins, whose extant literary career seems to span only three years, 1606 to 1608. The only published text of ''Pericles'', the 1609 quarto (all subsequent quartos were reprints of the original), is manifestly corrupt; it is often clumsily written and incomprehensible and has been interpreted as a pirated text reconstructed from memory by someone who witnessed the play (much like theories surrounding the 1603 " bad quarto" of '' Hamlet''). The play was printed in quarto twice in 1609 by the stationer Henry Gosson. Subsequent quarto printings appeared in 1611, 1619, 1630, and 1635; it was one of Shakespeare's most popular plays in his own historical era. The play was not included in the First Folio in 1623; it was one of seven plays added to the original Folio thirty-six in the second impression of the
Third Folio The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usually a ...
in 1664. ee: Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare).">Folios_and_Quartos_(Shakespeare).html" ;"title="ee: Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare)">ee: Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare).William Jaggard included ''Pericles'' in his 1619 False Folio. The editors of the The Oxford Shakespeare, Oxford and Arden Shakespeare, Arden editions of ''Pericles'' accept Wilkins as Shakespeare's collaborator, citing stylistic links between the play and Wilkins's style that are found nowhere else in Shakespeare. The Cambridge editors reject this contention, arguing that the play is entirely by Shakespeare and that all the oddities can be defended as a deliberately old-fashioned style; however, they do not discuss the stylistic links with Wilkins's work or any of the scholarly papers demonstrating contrary opinions. If the play was co-written or revised by Wilkins, this would support a later date, as it is believed Wilkins' career as a writer spanned only the years 1606-8. The 1986 Oxford University Press edition of the ''Complete Works'' and the subsequent individual edition include a "reconstructed text" of ''Pericles'', which adapts passages from Wilkins' novel on the assumption that they are based on the play and record the dialogue more accurately than the quarto. The play has been recognised as a probable collaboration since 1709, if not earlier. In that year Nicholas Rowe wrote, "there is good Reason to believe that the greatest part of that Play was not written by him; tho' it is own'd, some part of it certainly was, particularly the last Act." Rowe here seems to be summarising what he believes to be a consensus view in his day, although some critics thought it was either an early Shakespeare work or not written by him at all. Wilkins has been proposed as the co-author since 1868. In 1919, H. Dugdale Sykes published a detailed comparison of numerous parallels between the first half of Pericles and four of Wilkins's works, but he thought that Wilkins's novelisation of the play preceded its composition. Many other scholars followed Sykes in his identification of Wilkins, most notably Jonathan Hope in 1994 and
MacDonald P. Jackson MacDonald Pairman Jackson FNZAH is a New Zealand scholar of English literature. Most of his work is on English Renaissance drama; he specializes in authorship attribution. He is also internationally recognized for his work on Shakespeare's text ...
in 1993 and 2003. In 2002, Prof. Brian Vickers summarised the historical evidence and took the Cambridge editors to task for ignoring more than a century of scholarship.


Analysis and criticism

Critical response to the play has traditionally been mixed. In 1629, Ben Jonson lamented the audiences' enthusiastic responses to the play:
No doubt some mouldy tale, Like Pericles; and stale As the Shrieve's crusts, and nasty as his fish— Scraps out of every dish Throwne forth, and rak't into the common tub (Ben Jonson, ''Ode (to Himself)'')
In 1660, at the start of the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
when the theatres had just re-opened, Thomas Betterton played the title role in a new production of ''Pericles'' at the Cockpit Theatre, the first production of any of Shakespeare's works in the new era. After Jonson and until the mid-twentieth century, critics found little to like or praise in the play. For example, nineteenth-century scholar Edward Dowden wrestled with the text and found that the play “as a whole is singularly undramatic” and “entirely lacks unity of action."Edward Dowden. Shakespeare, His Mind and His Art. Dublin: 1875 The episodic nature of the play combined with the Act Four’s lewdness troubled Dowden because these traits problematised his idea of Shakespeare. Dowden also banished '' Titus Andronicus'' from the canon because it belonged to “the pre-Shakespearean school of bloody dramas”.
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...
found more to admire, saying of the moment of Pericles' reunion with his daughter: "To my mind the finest of all the 'recognition scenes' is Act V, sc. i of that very great play ''Pericles''. It is a perfect example of the 'ultra-dramatic', a dramatic action of beings who are more than human... or rather, seen in a light more than that of day." The New Bibliographers of the early twentieth century
Alfred W. Pollard Alfred William Pollard, FBA (14 August 1859 – 8 March 1944) was an English bibliographer, widely credited for bringing a higher level of scholarly rigor to the study of Shakespearean texts. Biography Pollard was born at 1 Brompton Sq ...
,
Walter Wilson Greg Sir Walter Wilson Greg (9 July 1875 – 4 March 1959), known professionally as W. W. Greg, was one of the leading bibliographers and Shakespeare scholars of the 20th century. Family and education Greg was born at Wimbledon Common in 1875. H ...
, and
R. B. McKerrow Ronald Brunlees McKerrow, FBA (12 December 1872 – 20 January 1940) was one of the leading bibliographers and Shakespeare scholars of the 20th century. Life R. B. McKerrow was born in Putney, son of Alexander McKerrow, a civil engineer, and M ...
gave increased attention to the examination of quarto editions of Shakespearean plays published before the First Folio (1623). ''Pericles'' was among the most notorious "bad quartos." In the second half of the twentieth century, critics began to warm to the play. After John Arthos' 1953 article "''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'': A Study in the Dramatic Use of Romantic Narrative," scholars began to find merits and interesting facets within the play's dramaturgy, narrative and use of the marvelous. And, while the play's textual critics have sharply disagreed about editorial methodology in the last half-century, almost all of them, beginning with
F. D. Hoeniger F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a con ...
with his 1963 ''Arden 2'' edition, have been enthusiastic about ''Pericles''. (Other, more recent, critics have been Stephen Orgel (''Pelican Shakespeare''), Suzanne Gossett (''Arden 3''), Roger Warren (''Reconstructed Oxford''), and Doreen DelVecchio and Antony Hammond (''Cambridge'')). Harold Bloom said that the play works well on the stage despite its problems, and even wrote, "Perhaps because he declined to compose the first two acts, Shakespeare compensated by making the remaining three acts into his most radical theatrical experiment since the mature ''Hamlet'' of 1600–1601."


Performance history

The
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
ambassador to England,
Zorzi Giustinian Zorzi Giustinian was an ambassador of the Republic of Venice serving in London from 1606 to 1608 and Vienna in 1618. London Giustinian arrived in London on 5 January 1606, met by the outgoing ambassador Nicolò Molin and Lewes Lewknor, the master ...
, saw a play titled ''Pericles'' during his time in London, which ran from 5 January 1606 to 23 November 1608. As far as is known, there was no other play with the same title that was acted in this era; the usual assumption is that this must have been Shakespeare's play. The title page of the play's first printed edition states that the play was often acted at the
Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
, which was most likely true. The earliest performance of ''Pericles'' known with certainty occurred in May 1619, at Court, "in the King's great chamber" at Whitehall. The play was also performed at the
Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
on 10 June 1631. A play called ''Pericles'' was in the repertory of a recusant group of itinerant players arrested for performing a religious play in Yorkshire in 1609; however, it is not clear if they performed ''Pericles'', or if theirs was Shakespeare's play. John Rhodes staged ''Pericles'' at the Cockpit Theatre soon after the theatres re-opened in 1660; it was one of the earliest productions, and the first Shakespearean revival, of the
Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
period. Thomas Betterton made his stage debut in the title role. Yet the play's pseudo-naive structure placed it at odds with the neoclassical tastes of the Restoration era. It vanished from the stage for nearly two centuries, until Samuel Phelps staged a production at
Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...
in
Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...
in 1854. Phelps cut Gower entirely, satisfying his narrative role with new scenes, conversations between unnamed gentlemen like those in '' The Winter's Tale'', 5.2. In accordance with Victorian notions of decorum, the play's frank treatment of incest and prostitution was muted or removed.
Walter Nugent Monck Walter Nugent Monck CBE (1878–1958) was an English theatre director and founder of Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich. He was born in Welshampton, Shropshire, the son of George Gustavus Monck (1849–1920), vicar of Welshampton who later worked a ...
revived the play in 1929 at his
Maddermarket Theatre The Maddermarket Theatre is a British theatre located in St. John's Alley in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by Nugent Monck. Early history and conversion The theatre was originally built as a Roman Catholic chapel in 1794. In ...
in Norwich, cutting the first act. This production was revived at Stratford after the war, with Paul Scofield in the title role.


Modern revivals

The play has risen somewhat in popularity since Monck, though it remains extraordinarily difficult to stage effectively, an aspect played with in '' Paris Belongs to Us'' (filmed 1957–1960). * In 1958, Tony Richardson directed the play at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford. The scene design, by Loudon Sainthill, unified the play; the stage was dominated by a large ship in which Gower related the tale to a group of sailors. Geraldine McEwan played Marina; Richard Johnson was Pericles; and Mark Dignam was Simonides. Angela Baddeley was the Bawd. The production was a success; it was later viewed as a model for "coherent" or thematically unified approaches, in contrast to the postmodern or disintegrative approaches of the seventies and eighties. * The 1969 production by
Terry Hands Terence David Hands (9 January 1941 – 4 February 2020) was an English theatre director. He founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; h ...
at Stratford also received favourable reviews. The set was almost bare, with a hanging replica of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man above a bare stage. Hands also introduced extensive doubling, which has since become a staple of productions of this play.
Emrys James Robert Emrys James (1 September 1928 – 5 February 1989) was a Welsh Shakespearean actor. He also performed in many theatre and TV parts between 1960 and 1989, and was an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was born in Machynl ...
played Gower (as a Welsh bard) and Helicanus.
Susan Fleetwood Susan Maureen Fleetwood (21 September 1944 – 29 September 1995) was a British stage, film, and television actress, who specialized in classical theatre. She received popular attention in the television series ''Chandler & Co'' and '' The Buddh ...
doubled Thaisa and Marina (with
Susan Sheers Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
playing Marina when the two characters appear together in the final scene). Ian Richardson played the title role. For the performances on the nights of the Apollo landing, Hands added a special acknowledgment of the event to Gower's lines. * Ron Daniels directed the play in 1979 at The Other Place, an unlikely venue for such an expansive play. Daniels compensated for the lack of space by canny use of lighting and offstage music and sound effects.
Peter McEnery Peter Robert McEnery (born 21 February 1940) is a retired English stage and film actor. Early life McEnery was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, to Charles and Ada Mary (née Brinson) McEnery. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire. Hi ...
played Pericles;
Julie Peasgood Julie May Peasgood (born 28 May 1956 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire) is an English actress, television presenter, author and voiceover artist known for her distinctive voice. She is best known for her role as Fran Pearson in the television soap ' ...
was Marina. Griffith Jones was Gower. * The play was among those adapted for the '' BBC Television Shakespeare'' series and was first transmitted on 8 December 1984. The play was opened out so as to deal with the various locations and time intervals and was given a thoughtful and moving interpretation.
Mike Gwilym Mike Gwilym (born 5 March 1949) is a Welsh actor. Early life Born in Neath, Gwilym is the brother of actor Robert Gwilym, son of Arthur Aubrey Remington Gwilym and Renée Mathilde Eugénie Léonce Dupont. His parents were the proprietors of a ...
played Pericles, Amanda Redman was Marina and Juliet Stevenson was Thaisa. It was directed by David Jones. * In 1989, David Thacker directed the play at the
Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...
. The production was centred on a grid-covered trap suspended in air; the brothel scenes were played below, as in a basement; the shipboard scenes were played on and around the grid. Rudolph Walker was Gower, dressed as a bureaucrat; Nigel Terry played Pericles, and Suzan Sylvester and Sally Edwards were Marina and Thaisa, respectively. * Productions in the 1990s differed from earlier productions in that they generally stressed the dislocation and diversity inherent in the play's setting, rather than striving for thematic and tonal coherence. As early as 1983, Peter Sellars directed a production in Boston that featured extras dressed as contemporary
American homeless people Homelessness in the United States refers to the issue of homelessness in the United States, a condition wherein people lack a fixed, regular, and adequate residence. The number of homeless people varies from different federal government accou ...
; devices such as these dominated English main stages in the nineties. Phyllida Lloyd directed the play at the
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
in 1994. The production used extensive doubling. Kathryn Hunter played Antiochus, Cerimon, and the Bawd. The production made extensive use of the mechanised wheel in the theatre to emphasise movement in time and space; however, the wheel's noise made some scenes difficult to hear, and some critics disparaged what they saw as pointless gimmickry in the staging. * Adrian Noble's 2002 production at the Roundhouse (his last before leaving the RSC) stressed diversity in another way. Responding to critical interest in
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
, Noble accentuated the multicultural aspects of the play's setting. Ray Fearon took the title role to Lauren Ward's Thaisa;
Kananu Kirimi Kananu Kirimi (born 1977) is a British actress. Biography Kirimi was born in Nairobi, Kenya, of a Kenyan mother and Scottish father. She was educated at Strathallan School in Perthshire and then took a three-year course at the London Academy of M ...
played Marina. Brian Protheroe was Gower. In an echo of the music played during the interval of the 1619 Whitehall performance, Noble featured belly dancing and drumming during the intermission of his production. * Mary Zimmerman directed Pericles at Washington D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company for their 2004–05 Season. The production transferred to Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2006. * The
Hudson Shakespeare Company The Hudson Shakespeare Company is a regional Shakespeare touring festival based in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, that produces an annual summer Shakespeare in the Park festival and often features lesser done Shakespeare works such as '' ...
of New Jersey mounted the play in two separate productions in their annual Shakespeare in the Parks series, directed by Jon Ciccarelli (2006) and Noelle Fair (2014) respectively. Both directors noted the 2002 Adrian Noble production as a direct influence on their productions utilizing diversely ethnic casts and set in Mediterranean locales. Ciccarelli's production took a more historical and literary slant on the story using Gower as a direct story teller of the action in medieval costume vs. the Greek/Turkish garb of the main cast. Fair's production took a more dream like approach using a variety of international music and devised movement pieces to convey the Gower dialogue. *
Joseph Haj Joseph Haj is an American artistic director and actor who is the eighth artistic director of the Guthrie Theater. Before joining Guthrie, he worked at PlayMakers Repertory Company. Haj has performed as an actor and was named by ''American Theat ...
directed several productions of ''Pericles'' from 2008 to 2016: at the PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2008; at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015; and at the
Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2016—his inaugural production as artistic director of that institution.Printed program for Guthrie Theater production of ''Pericles,'' 16 January – 21 February 2016, p. 10. Press release, “Playmakers’ Haj Takes UNC/Chapel Hill Creative Team to Oregon Shakespeare Festival,

* The 2015 Shakespeare's Globe production directed by
Dominic Dromgoole Dominic Dromgoole (born 25 October 1963)DROMGOOLE, Dominic Charles Flemi ...
used a minimal set within the tiny, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Sheila Reid played Gower and
James Garnon James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...
played Pericles. The production was noted for its humour. * The 2016
Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...
production directed by
Joseph Haj Joseph Haj is an American artistic director and actor who is the eighth artistic director of the Guthrie Theater. Before joining Guthrie, he worked at PlayMakers Repertory Company. Haj has performed as an actor and was named by ''American Theat ...
was a collaboration with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Unlike most scholars, Haj believes that was entirely written by Shakespeare, calling it "deep" and "mature." Rather than an elaborate set, the play uses visual projections on a large screen; this is particularly effective for the shipwreck scene and the "literal wall of water... coming right at you.". Musicians effectively set the mood, create tension, and underscore the theme. * There have been four important productions of "Pericles" mounted at
The Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
in Stratford, Canada. In 1973 there was a production directed by Jean Gascon that was repeated in 1974; there were later productions, respectively in 1986, 2003, and the latest in 2015. Both the 1973 and 1974 productions had the same cast, headed by Stratford stars, Nicholas Pennel and Martha Henry; the 1986 production was directed by
Richard Ouzounian Richard Ouzounian (born March 8, 1950) is a Canadian journalist and theatre artist. He was the chief theatre critic for the ''Toronto Star'' and the Canadian theatre correspondent for ''Variety''. Early life, family and education Ouzounian was b ...
and starred
Geraint Wyn Davies Geraint Wyn Davies (, 20 April 1957) is a Welsh-American stage, film and television actor-director. Educated in Canada, he has worked in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. His most famous role as the vampire-turned police detec ...
and Goldie Semple; the 2003 production was directed by Leon Rubin and starred Jonathan Goad; and in 2015 the director was Scott Wentworth and starred Evan Buliung. The 2015 production was filmed by
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
for the Shakespearean film series ''
CBC Presents the Stratford Festival ''CBC Presents the Stratford Festival'' is a Canadian film and television series. Produced by the Stratford Festival in conjunction with CBC Television, the series aims to film a Stratford production of every William Shakespeare play by 2025. In add ...
''. * The Theatre For a New Audience in New York City staged a production in early 2016 directed by Trevor Nunn with Christian Camargo as Pericles. Nunn utilized a generally bare stage but with more elaborate and ornate costuming from different eras and cultures. Nunn shifted some scenes around and brought in prose text from George Wilkins' Pericles story (thought to be the co-author of this play with Shakespeare) in order to improve the pace and clarity of the story. The production included folk songs and dances interwoven throughout the play as was often done in the original Shakespeare productions. * The BBC has broadcast two radio adaptations of the play: one in 2005 starring Tom Mannion as Pericles and one in 2017 with Willard White as Gower,
Paapa Essiedu Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (; born 11 June 1990) is an English actor. For his performance in the miniseries ''I May Destroy You'' (2020), he received Primetime Emmy and British Academy Television Award nominations. He won the 2016 Ian Charleson Award ...
as Pericles and
Adjoa Andoh Adjoa Andoh Hon. FRSL (born 14 January 1963) is a British actress. On stage, she has played lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. On television, she appeared in two ...
as Dionyza/Lychorida. * In August 2019, Dan Dawes directed a stripped back, multi-roling production of the play for the company Idle Discourse, which focused heavily on bold storytelling and physical comedy. The production initially ran at London's
Upstairs at the Gatehouse Upstairs at The Gatehouse is a small pub theatre in Highgate in the London Borough of Camden. The venue is a refurbished 1895 auditorium, upstairs from the Gatehouse pub, which has served over the years as a music hall, cinema, Masonic lodge, a ...
in Highgate before transferring to the Baroque Palace Theatre in the Palace of Valtice, Czech Republic, the following month. Tom Grace starred as Pericles, Adam Elms as Gower, and Lauren Cornelius as Marina. *''
The Show Must Go Online ''The Show Must Go Online'' is a British web series created by Robert Myles. The first episode premiered on 19 March 2020 on YouTube, in direct response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the theatre industry. The first series consisted of ...
'' staged a livestreamed, digital theatre production of Pericles in 2021 featuring performers from three continents. * In 2020, members of Mary Baldwin University's MFA company model performed the show as part of Fireside Shakespeare Company's 2020-2021 season. Directed by Millie Koncelik, the show was a small-scale production in which five actors portrayed all the characters. Due to the restraints of the pandemic, the production was masked and socially distanced. As part of the show's concept, each of the five actors in turn performed one of Gower's choruses throughout the show.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * *Skeele, David. ''Thwarting the Wayward Seas: A critical and Theatrical History of Shakespeare's'' Pericles ''in the 19th and 20th Centuries''. Newark: University of Delaware Press 1998.


External links

*
''Pericles''
– Ebook at Project Gutenberg
''Pericles''
an
''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''
at the
Internet off-Broadway Database The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway. The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundation ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pericles, Prince Of Tyre 1608 plays English Renaissance plays Off-Broadway plays Laurence Olivier Award-winning plays Shakespearean comedies West End plays Plays set in ancient Greece Tragicomedy plays