Stage Door News
Stage Door News
May 8, 2015… Beloved for his heartrending and richly drawn characterizations, Evan Buliung plays the title role in Shakespeare’s sweeping drama The Adventures of Pericles, directed by Scott Wentworth. Previews begin Friday, May 8, at the Tom Patterson Theatre.
Mr. Buliung is well-remembered for his outstanding season last year, giving beautifully nuanced performances as Edgar in King Lear and alternating the roles of Titania and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with a delightful comic turn as Count Bellair in The Beaux’ Stratagem. In his nine Stratford seasons, Mr. Buliung’s highlights include an acclaimed portrayal of Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, Roger in The Little Years, Mac in King of Thieves, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.
The cast also features Sean Arbuckle as Cleon, Deborah Hay as Thaisa, Marina and Antiochus’s Daughter, Claire Lautier as Dionyza, Brigit Wilson as the Bawd and Antoine Yared as Lysimachus.
In Shakespeare’s most fantastical tale, a storm at sea brings love into the life of Pericles, Prince of Tyre; another snatches it away. Many years must pass before fate guides the wandering hero to a poignant reunion with the family he thought he had lost forever.
“Like Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Pericles is a thrilling adventure story: a tale of heroic perseverance through incredible adversity,” says Mr. Wentworth. “But again like the Odyssey, or like the Arthurian quest legends, it also offers us a mythological and psychological story beneath the surface of its episodic, action-driven narrative. With its themes of restoration, redemption and transcendence, this first of Shakespeare’s ‘late romances’ speaks to our deep humanity as powerfully as his tragedies and mature comedies. Pericles’s journey is not only a literal one; it is also a journey of self-discovery. On a metaphysical level, it’s about the search for the soul.”
“Our 2015 season explores moments of discovery – the moment everything changes,” says Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “In Pericles, that moment comes at the beginning when the prince is forced to flee for his life after the solution to the king’s riddle reveals a disturbing secret. What transpires is an epic journey of heartbreak and redemption, culminating in the greatest discovery of all – the renewal of love.”
Mr. Wentworth marks his 21st season with this return to the director’s chair. He made his Stratford directorial debut in 2001 with Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Other directorial credits include Much Ado About Nothing at Hilberry Theatre and Macbeth at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre, which he co-directed with Robin Phillips. He also directed several productions for The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, including Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, Henry V and As You Like It. A longtime Festival favourite, Mr. Wentworth will return to the stage later this season as Epicure Mammon in Mr. Cimolino’s production of The Alchemist.
Artistic credits include Designer Patrick Clark, Lighting Designer Kevin Fraser, Composer Paul Shilton, Sound Designer Verne Good and Fight Director John Stead.
Corporate sponsor for the 2015 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre is BMO Financial Group.
Production support is generously provided by M. Fainer.
Support for the 2015 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre is generously provided by Richard Rooney & Laura Dinner.
The Adventures of Pericles Forum Highlights
The Stratford Festival Forum is a series of activities and events, including fascinating talks, interactive presentations, concerts, comedy shows and performances, that offer theatregoers a unique opportunity to delve further into the ideas and issues raised by the 2015 playbill and its theme of Discovery: That Eureka Moment.
Themes related to The Adventures of Pericles will be explored through several Forum events, including:
Rediscovering the Goddess
Wednesday, June 17, 10:45 a.m. to noon
Studio Theatre
In The Adventures of Pericles and other late plays by the Bard, tragedy is averted by the intervention, actions and power of the female characters. Celebrated writer Ann-Marie MacDonald, actor Deborah Hay and director Scott Wentworth examine this feminist interpretation in a panel moderated by Shakespearean scholar Dr. Philippa Sheppard.
The Eternal Struggle
Thursday, July 16, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Tom Patterson Theatre
Polonius decides to “loose” his daughter to discover Hamlet’s state of mind. Petruchio informs Katherine that “Will you, nil you, I will marry you.” In Pericles, Marina is captured by pirates, sold, and put up for auction by bawds. In many of Shakespeare’s plays men attempt to control women with limited, if any, success. The struggle, whether successful or not, seems to fascinate playwright and audience alike. Why does the struggle continue and why does it continue to fascinate?
Talking Theatre: The Adventures of Pericles
Thursday, September 10, 5:30 to 7:15 p.m.
Paul D. Fleck Marquee, Festival Theatre
Buffet dinner followed by a talk on The Adventures of Pericles by leading Shakespeare scholar Alexander Leggatt.
Sustaining support for the Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.
Support for the 2015 season of the Forum is provided in memory of Dr. W. Philip Hayman.
Stratford Direct, the daily return private bus service, now offers two routes: Toronto to Stratford and Detroit to Stratford. The Toronto bus costs $20 round trip, departing twice daily from May 4 to September 19. The Detroit bus costs $40 round trip, departing once daily from May 26 to September 19. Both routes are available on performance days with some exceptions.
Stratford Direct is generously sponsored by the Peter Cundill Foundation.
The 2015 season, which runs from April 21 to October 18, features Hamlet, The Sound of Music, Carousel, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Taming of the Shrew, She Stoops to Conquer, The Physicists, The Alchemist, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Oedipus Rex, Possible Worlds, The Last Wife and The Adventures of Pericles. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.
Photo: Evan Buliung and Deborah Hay. ©2014 Don Dixon.
2015-05-08
Stratford: "The Adventures of Pericles" starts previews at the Stratford Festival