CYMBELINE at the Delacorte

It was in pretty good shape for a first preview. The actors are not quite at the top of their game --- some are really over the top of it. There was some doubling of roles, not always advantageously. Hamish Linklater's wig fell off during a duel scene. The duel stopped so he could pick it up and replace it on his head. Lily Rabe was quite good. Tom Kitt has provided some nice music. Overall, I'd say it was ok.

Running time: 3:15, one intermission.

A rave!

Has anyone been in the stage seats for this? Uncomfortable? Miss too much? I am so intrigued, since I loved being in the stage seats at the Globe productions of 12N and RICHARD III.

I saw it last night and had a wonderful time. I see a lot of Shakespeare every singe year but I have to admit that I had never seen a production of Cymbeline. I was wrapped up in hearing the text out loud for the first time so my excitement was on a level ten. The highlights for me were Lily Rabe. She is just always so lovely and intoxicating to me. Hamish Linklater was fun and he's very good at clowning. He's a likable actor. The doubling of the roles was an excellent touch. Especially Kate Burton. it all seemed very seamless. The entire cast seems to be having a great time with each other and with the production. There is one moment I could have done without and that was (SPOILER) Raul Esparza belting out a show stopping number as Iachimo. He sounded great and the audience really seemed to dig it but it just felt odd for me. His entire performance was my least favorite. He was doing everything he was suppose to but I just didn't buy it.

There was also a moment during Lily Rabe's beautiful and emotional speech at the end of act one that a Raccoon decided to ender stage left and of course people in the audience began to whisper and giggle. It was an unfortunate moment for it to happen.

Overall I recommend it. Daniel Sullivan knows what he is doing and it's free theatre. It's hard to be critical.

Spoilers

The song is his entrance. it's very Vegas/Sinatra. His first scene has a showgirl/cocktail waitress (lily rabe), a poker table and group of guys playing cards.

The costumes are a bit everywhere because the tone is very much actors putting on a show. Hamish puts on a red wig at the opening in front of the audience to show the difference between Posthummus and Cloten. He plays both roles, and the set is a gold Proscenium in the middle of the stage with crates that have other titles of the Bard's plays around it. (hamlet, lear, etc).

Updated On: 7/26/15 at 04:00 PM

Will this make it to Broadway and yes I know the last revival was a couple of years ago. So it has not been long enough

Has anyone tried the stand-by line yet?

Anyone have anything to report? I was surprised that there was so little chatter about TEMPEST but now the same thing seems to be true of CYMBELINE. Bad choice of plays, uninteresting productions, too hot? I'm just curious is if anyone else has noticed (or cares) about the low profile of Delacorte productions this summer.

Cymbeline was the first Shakespearean play I saw, with my parents when I was 11 at Stratford-on-Avon, England. I was way too young to understand it, but it was quite a cast: Peggy Ashcroft (Imogen), Richard Johnson (Posthumus), Clive Revel (Cloten), Brian Bedford (one of the two lost sons). It made a deep enough impression that I've been a Bardolator ever since.

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If people are waiting for opening night, they may be out of luck if the reviews are good. The opening is August 10th and the last performance is August 23rd - not a lot of opportunities.

I saw it Friday and also really enjoyed it! I liked the quirky added musical numbers. It set a fun tone and broke up what at times felt like a very long production (feeling lengthy being the fault of the material, not the direction or acting). Lily Rabe was great, and I enjoyed Hamish Linklater in his two roles, he hit several good comedic choices related to this and made each character shine. This was probably me favorite Delacorte production I've seen.

The raccoons are always at Shakespeare in the park. The love the theatre! But seriously...can't they do a better job of keeping them off stage? I've seen one on stage at almost every play I've been to (including Friday, but he kept to the side).

I saw it about a week ago. I had never read or seen Cymbeline before, and so after hearing all of the "oh, Cymbeline sucks, oh it's such a mess" that I had over the years, maybe I was pleasantly surprised that it really isn't a disaster, or maybe -- more likely -- sure, it's all bits and pieces of stuff we've seen before, but the production is just lovely. I thought it was lovely, anyway. Hamish and Lily were great as always, I was thrilled beyond words to have Raul back, as always, and I liked that Daniel Sullivan's approach to directing it really cashed in on the grab-bag of familiarity and anachronism and everything and everywhere that the play is and used that in fun, surprising ways. I hadn't been to Shakespeare in the Park in years and I've missed it terribly; Cymbeline was the magic I'd been longing for. I wish I could get back to the city before it ends.

Oh, and the theatre was packed but everybody on the standby line got in.

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Updated On: 8/4/15 at 01:25 PM