Modern History of Pericles Productions

Stephanie Evangelist & Anthony Guido

In the modern era, Pericles is one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays. This was not always the case. In fact, in former centuries Pericles was actually one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. The play is infrequently performed in the modern day. There a variety of reasons for this. One is that the play is rather difficult to stage effectively. There are a large number of characters, and a variety of different locations for scenes that change quite frequently. This difficulty in staging the play is actually a central plot point of a 1961 French mystery film entitled Paris Belongs to Us, directed by Jacques Rivette. The plot centers around a group of actors rehearsing for a performance of Pericles that never actually happens.

Another possible reason is that modern editors have come to the conclusion that Shakespeare was not actually responsible for writing the entire play. He collaborated with another playwright. The consensus is that Shakespeare is responsible for almost exactly half the play (827 lines), the main portion after scene 9 that follows the story of Pericles. Research has indicated that the first two acts were likely written by English dramatist and pamphleteer George Wilkins. Therefore, directors may not want to stage the play as it is not a “true” Shakespeare play.

Until the mid twentieth century, critics found little to praise in the play. The nineteenth century Irish scholar Edward Dowden stated that the play “as a whole is singularly undramatic” and “entirely lacks unity of action.” Other nineteenth century critics also did not care for the episodic, fragmented nature of the play, as well as the “lewdness” of the fourth act of the play. The rigid morality of the Victorian era influenced the way that people thought about the play. The references to incest and prostitution were seen as vulgar by people during this time period.

Shockingly, the play only has two recorded performances during the nineteenth century. The play was performed in 1660 and disappeared from the stage for almost two hundred years, with the exception of an adaptation by English playwright George Lilo entitled Marina. A production of the play occurred in 1854 under the direction of English actor and theater manager Samuel Phelps at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. This production was notable for the scencic display.  The highpoint of the play was the “Dioramic View of the Passage from Tharsus to Ephesus” when “rowers take their places on the banks, the vessel seems to glide along the coast, an admirably-painted panorama slides before the eye, and the whole theatre seems to be in the course of actual transportation to the temple at Ephesus”. Phelps cut Gower entirely, satisfying his narrative role with new scenes. In accordance with Victorian notions of decorum, the play’s frank treatment of incest and prostitution was muted or removed

The second performance during the nineteenth century occurred in Stratford-upon-Avon in1900 when John Coleman, an elderly tragedian (he was 72 years old at this time) performed his own version of the play. By the time Coleman cut everything that audiences might have found offensive, there was little of the original left. He removed the first act, cut most of the second, cut Gower completely, and eliminated all sexual explicitness including the majority of the fourth act. Coleman justified his changes by stating that the bulk of the material that he removed was not actually written by Shakespeare. Unfortunately, there were so many omissions in the play that Coleman had to add a lot of his own material and what was left was almost incomprehensible.

Some local reviewers of the play praised the scenery and music, as well as the acting skills of Coleman. Others were not so kind, with one reviewer describing it as a “tragic bungling”. Author Sally Beauman has written that the play has gone down as “the worst travesty of a Shakespeare play ever to be presented [in Stratford]”. Walter Nugent Monck revived the play in 1929 at his Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich, cutting the first act.

There was a brief period of time when the play was not put into production after the performance in 1929. However, once we reached the 1950s, a slew of productions of Shakespeare’s play, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, were performed.

The first of these performances occurred in 1958. Tony Richardson directed the play at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford. This particular production had several notable facets, including the following: First and foremost, it is imperative to note that Loudon Sainthill’s scene design unified the play. The stage was dominated by a large ship, in which Gower recounted Pericles’ tale to a group of sailors. Several famous English actors and actresses had a role in this production, including Geraldine McEwan as Marina, Richard Johnson as Pericles, Mark Dignam as Simonides, and Angela Baddeley as the Bawd. This production was a major success, and it was later viewed as a model for thematically unified approaches.

The next production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre occurred in 1969. This production also took place in Stratford, and was directed by Terry Hands. In contrast to the 1958 production, the set was almost entirely bare, with a hanging replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man above a bare stage. Another notable aspect of this production was Hands’ introduction of extensive doubling, which is a technique that has since become a staple for productions of this play. Gower was depicted as a Welsh bard, and was played by Emrys James, a Welsh Shakespearean stage actor. James also doubled as Helicanus. Susan Fleetwood, a British actress, doubled as Thaisa and Marina, except for scene where both characters were present: In the final scene, Susan Sheers took on the role of Marina. Since this play took place during the time of the Apollo landing, Hands added a special acknowledgement of the event to Gower’s speeches.

It is also important to note that there were four important productions of Pericles, Prince of Tyre that were staged at The Stratford Festival in Stratford, Canada (1973-4, 1986, 2003, 2015). 

Moving further along, in 1979, Ron Daniels directed the play at The Other Place, which was an unlikely venue for such a vast play. He compensated for the lack of stage space by making use of lighting, offstage music, and sound effects. 

The 1980s produced two major productions. First, Pericles, Prince of Tyre was first included in the BBC’s Shakespeare collection in December of 1984. Second, David Thacker directed the play at the Swan, a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. The production was centered on a grid-covered trap suspended in air: The brothel scenes were played below as if they were in a basement, and the shipboard scenes were played on and around the grid.

The productions that took place in the 1990s were different from earlier productions in that they did not strive for thematic coherence. Instead, they stressed the dislocation and diversity present in the play’s setting. Phyllidia Lloyd directed the play at the Royal National Theatre in 1994, but it was not regarded well. The production made extensive use of the mechanized wheel in the theatre to emphasize movement in time and space, but the wheel’s noise made some scenes difficult to hear, which was not favorable to critics.

In 2002, Adrian Noble’s production at the Roundhouse stressed diversity by accentuating the multicultural aspects of the play’s setting. Further, he featured belly dancing and drumming during the intermission of this production. The Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey put on the play in two separate productions in their annual Shakespeare in the Parks series, the 2006 version directed by Jon Ciccarelli and the 2014 version directed by Noelle Fair.

Shakespeare’s Globe produced the play in 2015, with Dominic Drumgoole, the director. He utilized a minimalist set within the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, and this production was known for its humor. In 2016, the Guthrie Theater, under the direction of Joseph Haj in collaboration with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, put on a production of the play. Rather than using an elaborate set, this production used visual projections on a large screen. Musicians were able to effectively set the mood, create tension, and underscore the themes of the play.

Finally, the Theatre For a New Audience in New York City staged a production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre with Trevor Nunn as the director. This particular production utilized a generally bare stage, but compensated with more elaborate and ornate costuming to differentiate between the variety of cultures and areas present. In order to improve the pace and clarity of the play, Trevor Nunn moved some scenes around and brought in prose text from George Wilkins’ story of Pericles, especially since Wilkins is thought to be Shakespeare’s coauthor of Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Similarly to the original Shakespeare productions, this production included folk songs and dances interwoven throughout the play. Read more about the Theater For a New Audience and its production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre in the other entries on this blog!