Three words sum up the Barnstormer's weekend performance of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida: love, war and lesbianism. The story of unsuccessful love in the middle of the Trojan wars, directed by graduate student Ellwood Wiggins and produced by sophomore Jillian Saperstein, was turned into a slapstick comedy by the Barnstormers with varied results.
Although the title suggests the focus should be on the characters Troilus and Cressida, played by freshman Bill Fuller and freshman Holly Caracappa respectively, their love story only takes up about one third of the play. It is overshadowed by the Trojan War story, between the Greeks and the Trojans and Ulysses's, played by sophomore Justine Wiesinger, attempt to make Achilles return to battle. The cast is large, with 23 speaking actors, and it is easy for the audience to get lost.
The Barnstormers cleverly separated the Greeks from the Trojans by costumes. The Greeks wore modern military garb, including guns, and business outfits, while the Trojans wore ancient robes. The costumes were creative for the small budget production, and added to the humor of the show.
Shakespearean scholars have a hard time deciding if Troilus and Cressida is a comedy or a tragedy, and so do the Barnstormers. Although the humor worked well with the more serious subjects of the play, the actors occasionally had difficulty switching quickly for slapstick to tragedy and it weakened some of the play's most heart-breaking moments, such as when Cressida finds out she must leave Troilus or when Achilles sees Patroclus's, played by a very funny graduate student Josh Alvizu, dead body. Sometimes the switch from sadness to humor was so jilted that the audience was unable to laugh or feel sad.
Bill Fuller wasn't well cast as the tortured lover Troilus. He doesn't exhibit strong emotions throughout the play, although his character experiences the most love and lost out of all the characters. His scenes with Holly Caracappa's Cressida had little spark, which was worsened by the fact that their movements were not directed well and that they stay in one spot too long.
Freshman Molly Schindler did a wonderful job as Thersites, who helps narrate the play. Although she is described as "deformed" in the program, a characteristic she did not act, she used the stage very well and managed to exude a insolent attitude, which fit Thersites well.
Ellwood Wiggins filled the small role of Priam, King of Troy. He and senior Emily Ethridge, who played old Nester, both used their character's ages for comedy and kept the old age act up throughout the show. Other strong performances by freshman Mike Wills as nosy Pandarus, senior Aditya Madhusudhan as a strong and cocky Agamemnon and freshman Scott Morse as masculine Ajax helped carry the show. Peter Lipman also played a very funny and silly Achilles, who sat on the side of the stage with Patroclus, ridiculing much of what was going on. Lipman's portrayal of Achilles as a lazy goof wasn't slapstick like the rest of the comedy in the play, but was endearing, which won the audience over.
The play also contained a extended makeout scene between Helen and Paris, both played by women, junior Danielle Sarina Haber and sophomore Lisa Carey respectively. A song sung by Wills is completely overshadowed by the lesbian make-out scene behind him, which seemed to be the audience's favorite part of the show. Haber played a seductive Helen and she and Carey had better chemistry than Fuller and Caracappa and both gave strong performances as the famous couple.
The location of the play, the upper quad in front of the library, was a problem for sound and staging. Although Shakespeare outside is charming and the weather was beautiful, the stage was set up poorly, with chairs on three sides of the stage, so actors often had their backs to at least part of the audience. Sound carried poorly and some of the actors did not speak loud enough, which made the story line hard to follow.
A moderately sized crowd gathered for the only regular performance of Shakespeare on campus, and, with such beautiful weather, the Barnstormers put on an enjoyable show. Hopefully the Spring Shakespeare tradition at Hopkins will continue and expand.
