![]() ![]() Alternatively, some of the implied scenes-for example, the removal of the desirable young Millicent (Hannah Adrian) from a convent where her parents place her for safekeeping-could have been staged by the company as dumb shows here and there during the performance. Though these oddities are the fault of the script, not the production, it may be that another choice of play from the Apocrypha would have proved more rewarding both for the company and the audience. It may be that the magic would have been found in scenes of the play that are now missing, as the play is quite short there are a few holes in the plot. This scene was very effective, and the comic use of magic seemed to promise more such tricks later in the play-especially after Fabell pledges his aid to one of the lovers in the comedy’s conventional but complicated marriage plot-though, instead, the plot eventually finds its way to resolution through purely natural means. Faustus: Fabell, who has sold his soul to the devil and whose time is up, uses a magically sticky chair to trick the demonic messenger Coreb (James Callàs Ball) into extending Fabell’s lease on life by seven years. In the play’s induction, the titular “merry devil” Peter Fabell, played by Ryan Crowder, seems to accomplish a comic reversal of the fate of Marlowe’s Dr. The final weekend of the series brought The Merry Devil of Edmonton (first printed 1604), perhaps chosen because the play opened on Halloween night. Todd Kassens as Arden’s friend Franklin and Nathan Jerkins as the Alice’s lubricious lover Mosbie offered strong support to the lead actors, with Mosbie, interestingly, speaking some of the play’s most evocative speeches: words that Jonathan Bate and his cohort have recently attributed with some confidence to Shakespeare.įigure 2: Ryan Crowder as Fabell and James Callàs Ball as Coreb in The Merry Devil of Edmonton. The plot of the play is based on real-life events of forty years previous: adulterous wife Alice Arden (Barbara Chisholm) tries-repeatedly-to dispose of her husband, the titular Thomas Arden (Robert Matney). ![]() The first weekend of The Apocrypha Project featured the best known of the three plays, Arden of Faversham (first printed 1592). Despite the unfamiliarity of the material and short rehearsal times for each piece, the project was a smashing success, not to mention a historic opportunity to see three plays very seldom staged these days. Of the twenty or so plays prominent in that group, Burns chose a nice variety: the domestic tragedy Arden of Faversham, the (mostly) traditional comedy The Merry Devil of Edmonton, and the wildly popular romance Mucedorus. ![]() Burns was at it again.Īs the name implies, The Apocrypha Project took on the Shakespeare Apocrypha: the ever-changing list of plays that have been-at some point in time, all or part, with greater or lesser degrees of certainty-attributed to Shakespeare. This autumn’s announcement of three early modern plays would be performed as staged readings under the umbrella label “The Apocrypha Project” was met with delight, curiosity, and anticipation. Early this year, Beth Burns, “matriarch” of the company, broke new ground by mounting a breathtaking production of Der bestrafte Brudermord (the German play somehow descended from Hamlet) in translation-with puppets. This company’s Original Practice Shakespeare productions, performed in the ritual room of a Masonic lodge in downtown Austin, have consistently impressed audiences, critics, and awards committees alike. Lovers of Shakespeare in Texas have learned not to miss anything put on by The Hidden Room. The Hidden Room at York Rite Masonic Hall, Austin, Texas, October-November 2014 The Apocrypha Project, featuring Arden of Faversham, The Merry Devil of Edmonton, and Mucedorus. ![]()
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