FringeReview UK 2025

Cymbeline

Shakespeare’s Globe

Genre: Classical and Shakespeare, Comedic, Dark Comedy, Drama, Live Music, Mainstream Theatre, Theatre

Venue: Shakespeare’s Globe The Sam Wanamaker

Festival: FringeReview UK

Low Down

Review

Probing national identity partly inspired three Cymbelines in under a year in 2015-16: the first at the Wanamaker proving the finest, followed by one renamed Innogen on the Globe stage, and finally the RSC’s more bleakly overt musings. This Cymbeline picks up on that corrected name, directed by Jennifer Tang (assistant director Charlotte Vickers) till April 20^th.

But what a difference a decade makes. This production references Boudica (who arrived in Tristan Bernays’ Boudica back in 2017) and re-genders not only Cymbeline but Posthumous, the slightly renamed Pisania and Arviraga, as well as the Queen, now Silas Carson’s egregious Lord.

At this stage of his career Shakespeare opted for the more obscure Cymbeline allowing a redemptive ending. Boudica might have proved a starker tragedy than Lear had he decided to write it five years earlier. By 1610 this trickiest, fourth-longest play (a line shorter than Coriolanus) poses huge challenges: its fractured tone, tragic, grotesque and brutally comic as well as fractured love is tricky. And that’s before exploring its heart, a re-run of Othello with Iachimo, a jack-in-the-box version of Iago, convincing Posthumous their wife is unfaithful.

Paganism – and a female court – is emphasized. Laura Moody leads a trio in her own vocal/instrumental music with soulful chants, a buzzy cello and percussion. Basia Binkowska’s set, regally marbled with a removable well-cap, is liberally decorated with backdrops of bone-images referencing Gaia. Costumes mix mountain-rough and suave modernity.

And Madeline Appiah’s Gaia (later Cornelia before assuming her main role as wrongly banished Balaria, originally Belarius) furnishes a new preface picking up on Shakespeare’s late-romance narratives in Pericles and The Winter’s Tale. There’s enough strangeness in the text, with Posthumous’ dream-masque, here artfully re-purposed, for this to sit easily.

Cymbeline (an easily-roused Martina Laird) is swayed by Carson’s scheming Lord “for he was handsome” she later muses (which gets a laugh). Her two twins kidnapped 20 years ago, she now wishes to remarry her remaining child Innogen (Gabrielle Brooks) – already married to Posthumous (Nadi Kemp-Sayfi) – to the Lord’s son Cloten (Jordan Mifsud) who proves slightly Parolles-like in valour (echoing the recent All’s Well here), but infinitely, well clottish. Mifsud’s almost too much the prince but guys himself with a will as a grotesque, tasteless bully.

Brooks and Kemp-Sayfi make an affecting couple. Both rise to considerable heights, particularly Brooks whose Innogen has to carry the emotional burden as much as Helena does in that recent All’s Well.  Brooks is not only clear and determined, but conveys distress and separation from Posthumous, as well as seething disdain for Cloten.

Kemp-Sayfi, a seasoned Globe performer pitches Posthumous from erotic longing through haughty disdain for Iachimo which pride falls in a trick. And then into death-wish heroics. It’s almost as hard to forgive Posthumous as Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, but the affect isn’t as deeply-cut. Til Act  when in a remarkable Dream where Roman gods are banished and ancestors crowd in, more of Posthumous’ emotional life is revealed. The denouement should eb overwhelming and Kemp-Sayfi and Brooks give it all they have.

After Posthumous’ banishment, we’re catapulted into a bifurcated narrative: Posthumous is assailed for a wager on her wife’s chastity by Iachimo (Pierro Niel-Mee). Iachimo’s more torn on meeting Innogen, trying seduction than backtracking, so partly regrets his action. Niel-Mee’s mix of sexual excitement and genuine affection makes a winning and affecting complexity out of a knave. And there’s a nudge of an erotic charge to hint subconscious complicity in Innogen’s sleep. There’s a recent tradition of that but it mightn’t gel here.

There’s strong work from Amanda Bright as Pisania (originally Pisanio) Innogen’s faithful servant who after confessing Posthumous’ order of murder and swerving it, conveniently parts from Innogen so she can fall into adventures as ‘Fidele’.

It’s only at this point that Appiah’s main role as Belaria is realised and Innogen’s kidnapped twin siblings Giderius (a warmly truculent Aaron Anthony) and (now) sister Arvariga (Saroja-Lily Ratnavel’s staunch, passed-over sibling, earlier Lady Helen) turn up: replete with a cute family war-cry.

At this point the comedic cast of this production begins to tell. Not on Brooks whose wailing devastation over the headless corpse (as she thinks) of Posthumous is explosive. Shakespeare’s bleak joke, two-edged for an audience, is rightly checked here. Elsewhere it breaks out.

After Nigel Barrett’s exasperated rile as (extremely) reluctant wager-broker Philario he moves to the wholly sympathetic Roman delegate and general Caius Lucius and is spared the rather callous line ‘Fidele’ (Innogen disguised) speaks quitting his service. There’s strong multi-roling work from Angelina Chudi and Os Leanse too.

The great Act V unravelling scene – finer than any of its kind, perhaps even Measure For Measure – is laid out with great clarity and pace. It breathes and lets every point fall. So it’s distressing that when Posthumous strikes Innogen – shockingly and with conviction – the audience laugh. “You’re ne’er killed Innogen till now” shouts Pisania. The problem lies with Shakespeare leading any production down a comic route, and the Globe and Wanamaker’s known comedic bent (at least with Shakespeare). It does rob the scene of some power, and the blame lies with us, and Shakespeare. It is though otherwise immensely satisfying and ducks no complexity.

This is overall the finest Cymbeline I’ve seen since the last one here, in December 2015. Its clarity complements that of the All’s Well that preceded it. At three hours (it has come in at two hours 50) it reflects the play’s length sympathetically edited. One of the most uneven of late plays, its heights have to be seen; and though there’s pitfalls, this absorbing production surmounts most. A feat.

Musicians: Composer/Musical Director/Vocals/Cello Laura Moody,  Vocals/Guitar Heidi Heidelberg /Percussion Angela Wai Nok Hui

Movement Director Chi-San Howard, Fight and Intimacy Directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown for Rc-Annie Ltd.

Co-Costume Designer and Costume Supervisor Megan Rarity, Globe Associate – Movement Glynn MacDonald, Head of Voice Tess Dignan

Head of Production Wills, Head of Stage Bryan Paterson, Head of Wigs, Hair and Make-up Gilly Church, Head of Wardrobe Emma Lucy-Hughes, Head of Company Management Marion Marrs, Head of Props Emma Hughes

Stage Manager Catriona McHugh, DSM Kristy Bloxham,  ASM Rachel Middlemore, Casting Becky Paris CDG.

Published January 23, 2025January 23, 2025 by Simon Jenner