Volume 45, Number 12 · July 16, 1998
Child's Play
By Geoffrey O'Brien
Cymbeline of Music, June 3-6, and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., June 23-July 5, 1998
a play by William Shakespeare, directed by Adrian Noble. performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Brooklyn Academy
The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Cymbeline (which following an engagement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is now playing at the Kennedy Center in Washington) vindicates the stageworthiness of what has come to be one of Shakespeare's least performed plays. Once a favorite of the playhouses, frequently and sometimes lavishly revived as a vehicle for stars from Mrs. Siddons to Ellen Terry, Cymbeline nowadays seems to be remembered chiefly for its two songs 'Hark, hark the lark' and 'Fear no more the heat o' the sun,' and for its much-admired heroine, the princess Imogen. Among critics, whether the play is really much good has remained an open question, tactfully implied by such terms as 'experiment' and 'transitional work.' Productions have been rare enough to suggest that Shakespeare might, this once, have fumbled in realizing his intentions.
Review, 4025 words
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