VIEWPOINTS – Shakespeare Off-Broadway, solidly-done: TFANA’s JULIUS CAESAR & Mobile Unit’s THE TEMPEST

Broadway isn’t the only place theater fans have been recently able to get their Shakespeare fix (King Lear is currently playing on the Great White Way at the Cort Theatre starring the magnificent Glenda Jackson). Indeed, over the past month or so, audiences were also able to catch a pair of solidly staged Shakespeare productions off the Main Stem via two of the city’s primary purveyors of the Bard’s works.

The company of Mobile Unit's "The Tempest" at the Pubic Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

The company of Mobile Unit’s “The Tempest” at the Pubic Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

After making the rounds in New York City, Mobile Unit’s touring production of The Tempest (RECOMMENDED) arrives back at the mothership that is the Public Theater’s home base on Lafayette Street, where it opened last night for a brief valedictory run. Curiously and unfortunately, this production does away with much of the poetry – of which there is plenty – in Shakespeare’s great late-career romance as it speeds through the fantastical story about the power of forgiveness. However, as typical of Mobile Unit productions, Laurie Woolery’s scrappy staging is energetic and the enthusiastic cast is committed to buoyantly conveying the story in a clear and concise manner.

The company of "Julius Caesar" at Theatre for a New Audience. Photo by Gerry Goodstein.

The company of “Julius Caesar” at Theatre for a New Audience. Photo by Gerry Goodstein.

In addition to King Lear, theater fans still hungry for more Shakespearian tragedy had the chance to take in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (RECOMMENDED) at Off-Broadway’s Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, where it ended its run last weekend. The production was originally staged last year by Shana Cooper at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In terms of storytelling, I’m hard pressed to recall a more lucid Julius Caesar, particularly as it relates to the play’s problematic second half, which Ms. Cooper molds with choreographed vigor and impressive clarity. I did, however, miss the specificity and strong points of view of a lot of other productions of the famous tragedy I’ve seen in the past (including the infamous Trumpian version that played the Delacorte two summers back). Nevertheless, the production was strongly and urgently acted across the board.

 

THE TEMPEST
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit / Shiva Theater
1 hour, 35 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 19

THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR
Off-Broadway, Play
Theatre for a New Audience / Polonsky Shakespeare Center
2 hours, 40 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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