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Last night we went to go see Boston Shakespeare in the Park's Cymbeline, on the Common. It was a perfectly respectable production of Cymbeline, a show that I believe ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
newredshoes once described as a highlights reel of all of Shakespeare's other plot points crammed into one play, featuring as it does:
- fakeout poison
- crossdressing
- a stubborn king who just has to learn to appreciate his daughter more
- a convoluted scheme to make a virtuous wife seem adulterous
- ill-advised bro bets
- an unwanted arranged marriage
- a murderous evil stepmother
- attempted wife murder (based on the aforementioned convoluted scheme to make a virtuous wife seem adulterous)
- kidnapped princes being raised as humble peasants in the Arcadian forest
- fakeout beheading
- a number of rapturous odes to the town of Milford Haven
- the Roman invasion of Britain
- the longest 'have some surprise identity reveals and convoluted explanations!' scene in all of Shakespeare, observed by an audience of confused captive Romans
- Jupiter descending from the heavens to consult with some ghosts
- (I can't believe I had completely forgotten the existence of the scene in which Jupiter descends from the heavens to consult with some ghosts but Boston Shakespeare in the Park wanted to make sure you NOTICED it)
Anyway, we enjoyed it very much, but on the way backgenarti and I started trying to figure out how you'd re-jigger the plot so that you still got all of the various batshit elements and the general shape of the story stayed the same (including -- genarti was very insistent -- the rapturous odes to Milford Haven) but also so that Posthumus Leonatus, the love interest and nominal hero of the piece, is not a literal attempted wife murderer before the happy reconciliation at the end of the story. And after some back and forth, I think we've got it!
The key here is that you speed up the timing of the invasion, so Posthumus is in fact already about to go to Milford Haven with the Roman army when Iachimo (also about to head off to the invasion, a little later than Posthumus) shows up to convince him of Imogen's Perfidy.
Instead of trying to lure Imogen to Milford Haven so that his servant can murder her, therefore, Posthumus writes a note calling her to Milford Haven so he can ACCUSE HER TO HER FACE! and then dramatically dump her, Claudio style! This is still obviously a dick move but much less of a dick move than "have my servant stab her." Baby steps.
Imogen, who does not know she is about to be dumped, shows up already cross-dressed (there's no reason Pisanio can't suggest this earlier, when she's running away from the palace) and in disguise as a boy. She finds Posthumus in a tavern, where he does not immediately recognize her, because if Orlando didn't recognize cross-dressed Rosalind in As You Like It there's no reason it shouldn't work here too, and also maybe she's wearing an enormous false moustache or something. It's Shakespeare. It's fine.
Just as she's about to joyously throw off her disguise, she hears Posthumus ranting to his Roman pals about Imogen's unfaithfulness and his plan to dramatically dump her!
DISGUISED IMOGEN: [le gasp! le shock!]
CLUELESS POSTHUMUS: and well you MIGHT be shocked, hot youth!
DISGUISED IMOGEN: surely you wrong your lady, sir!
CLUELESS POSTHUMUS: alas! I have the receipts, hot youth!
Imogen hears all about everything Iachimo said and decides to stay on and meet the Romans, so she can confront Iachimo with his perfidy; in the meantime, however, she decides to head out of Milford Haven for a bit lest Posthumus somehow get a clue and recognize her, and the entire forest interlude plays out as before, including Imogen mistaking Beheaded Cloten for Posthumus and the Romans showing up and adopting her.
Now Imogen, thinking Posthumus is dead, is extra motivated to make Iachimo feel bad for slandering her reputation, and probably gets a whole speech in there about how Posthumus' death is Iachimo's fault for his lies and perfidy (and Iachimo's sudden change of heart at the end of the play makes a lot more sense if it's spurred by a surprisingly hot youth who has been following him around for the past several days going "hey! hey! guess what! YOU'RE A DICK".)
Meanwhile, Pisanio is still off spreading rumors that Imogen is dead, so Posthumus assumes she heard the trash talk that he's been spreading all round Milford Haven and died of a broken heart (once again a la Hero in Much Ado) and still has the avalanche of guilt to allow the end of the play to go forward pretty much unchanged, with extra crossdressing banter and without any attempted wife murder at all. Mr. Shakespeare, you're welcome.
newredshoes once described as a highlights reel of all of Shakespeare's other plot points crammed into one play, featuring as it does: - fakeout poison
- crossdressing
- a stubborn king who just has to learn to appreciate his daughter more
- a convoluted scheme to make a virtuous wife seem adulterous
- ill-advised bro bets
- an unwanted arranged marriage
- a murderous evil stepmother
- attempted wife murder (based on the aforementioned convoluted scheme to make a virtuous wife seem adulterous)
- kidnapped princes being raised as humble peasants in the Arcadian forest
- fakeout beheading
- a number of rapturous odes to the town of Milford Haven
- the Roman invasion of Britain
- the longest 'have some surprise identity reveals and convoluted explanations!' scene in all of Shakespeare, observed by an audience of confused captive Romans
- Jupiter descending from the heavens to consult with some ghosts
- (I can't believe I had completely forgotten the existence of the scene in which Jupiter descends from the heavens to consult with some ghosts but Boston Shakespeare in the Park wanted to make sure you NOTICED it)
Anyway, we enjoyed it very much, but on the way back
genarti and I started trying to figure out how you'd re-jigger the plot so that you still got all of the various batshit elements and the general shape of the story stayed the same (including -- genarti was very insistent -- the rapturous odes to Milford Haven) but also so that Posthumus Leonatus, the love interest and nominal hero of the piece, is not a literal attempted wife murderer before the happy reconciliation at the end of the story. And after some back and forth, I think we've got it! The key here is that you speed up the timing of the invasion, so Posthumus is in fact already about to go to Milford Haven with the Roman army when Iachimo (also about to head off to the invasion, a little later than Posthumus) shows up to convince him of Imogen's Perfidy.
Instead of trying to lure Imogen to Milford Haven so that his servant can murder her, therefore, Posthumus writes a note calling her to Milford Haven so he can ACCUSE HER TO HER FACE! and then dramatically dump her, Claudio style! This is still obviously a dick move but much less of a dick move than "have my servant stab her." Baby steps.
Imogen, who does not know she is about to be dumped, shows up already cross-dressed (there's no reason Pisanio can't suggest this earlier, when she's running away from the palace) and in disguise as a boy. She finds Posthumus in a tavern, where he does not immediately recognize her, because if Orlando didn't recognize cross-dressed Rosalind in As You Like It there's no reason it shouldn't work here too, and also maybe she's wearing an enormous false moustache or something. It's Shakespeare. It's fine.
Just as she's about to joyously throw off her disguise, she hears Posthumus ranting to his Roman pals about Imogen's unfaithfulness and his plan to dramatically dump her!
DISGUISED IMOGEN: [le gasp! le shock!]
CLUELESS POSTHUMUS: and well you MIGHT be shocked, hot youth!
DISGUISED IMOGEN: surely you wrong your lady, sir!
CLUELESS POSTHUMUS: alas! I have the receipts, hot youth!
Imogen hears all about everything Iachimo said and decides to stay on and meet the Romans, so she can confront Iachimo with his perfidy; in the meantime, however, she decides to head out of Milford Haven for a bit lest Posthumus somehow get a clue and recognize her, and the entire forest interlude plays out as before, including Imogen mistaking Beheaded Cloten for Posthumus and the Romans showing up and adopting her.
Now Imogen, thinking Posthumus is dead, is extra motivated to make Iachimo feel bad for slandering her reputation, and probably gets a whole speech in there about how Posthumus' death is Iachimo's fault for his lies and perfidy (and Iachimo's sudden change of heart at the end of the play makes a lot more sense if it's spurred by a surprisingly hot youth who has been following him around for the past several days going "hey! hey! guess what! YOU'RE A DICK".)
Meanwhile, Pisanio is still off spreading rumors that Imogen is dead, so Posthumus assumes she heard the trash talk that he's been spreading all round Milford Haven and died of a broken heart (once again a la Hero in Much Ado) and still has the avalanche of guilt to allow the end of the play to go forward pretty much unchanged, with extra crossdressing banter and without any attempted wife murder at all. Mr. Shakespeare, you're welcome.
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