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In the summer of 2017, I directed Marina, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Pericles. Here I've written about that process and collected some of my favorite photos of the production.
More information about my directing experience can be found on my Directing Resume.
Marina
July 2017
Marina is the story of a woman, separated from her family, who must defend herself from enemies on all sides while remaining true to herself.
I adapted Marina from Shakespeare's Pericles (1609), choosing to cut Acts 1 and 2 to focus on the story of Pericles's daughter Marina. The only surviving text for Pericles is a "bad quarto"—a script which is largely corrupted, likely having been reconstructed by memory from actors or audience members. The Oxford edition of Pericles is unique among most modern editions, making progressive edits to attempt to reconstruct the play as Shakespeare intended. For this reason, I chose to use the Oxford Pericles as my main source for Marina.
Cutting the first half of Pericles made it necessary to heavily change the lines of the narrator, John Gower. Originally conceived as a reincarnation of the 14th-century English poet, his lines were all rhyming couplets. This fact made it difficult to edit the narration to fit the other large changes to the script, so I collaborated with the actor to rewrite his lines in modern English.
During this process, I learned I wasn't the first person to cut the first half of Pericles and retitle the play Marina. In 1738, the British writer George Lillo adapted Pericles as well, making much more substantial changes to the characters, plot, and verse. I read through his script and preferred his lines for some of the side characters (Bawd, Bolt, and the pirates), so I used his lines for some of their scenes in our version.
I'm very grateful to the talented cast and crew I got to work with on this production. The final product truly exceeded any expectations I had going into the process.
Photos taken by Tal Scully
Gower and Marina. Each section of narration in modern English was accompanied by a pantomime of the characters acting out the described events.
Bawd and Bolt in the brothel. Here you can see the space and set design well. As much as possible, the set was modular, with the white wooden boxes being used in each location. Each location had one or two defining unique pieces as well. Here the rug and red curtains helped to define the brothel.
Marina reuniting with her mother, Thaisa, as Pericles looks on. In the final scene of the play, we get emotional completion as Marina finally rejoins her family.
Lysimachus, Helicanus, and Marina are frozen as Pericles collapses, receiving a vision from Diana. In the original script, Pericles suddenly falls asleep, and the other characters exit, leaving him there. Instead, I chose to have the characters freeze during the vision, interrupting the momentum of the play less.
The goddess Diana. In a literal deus ex machina, Diana tells Pericles where his wife, presumed dead, has been living for their years of separation. The stage direction for her entrance is "DIANA descends from the heavens," which seemed difficult, so I opted to have her part the upstage curtain for her entrance, descending from the heavens in a theatrical sense.
The cast and crew of Marina. Although the play was only 60 minutes long, the cast size and technical levels were on par with those of a normal full-length production by the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble.
Watch a recording of the performance:
Cast
David Ricardo — Gower
Katherine Yee — Marina
Victor Gutierrez — Pericles, Leonine
Sarah Flanagan — Thaisa, Diana
Keenan Sunderwirth — Lychorida, Second Pirate, Lysimachus
Ellie Plachinski — Shipmaster, Tarsus Townsfolk, First Pirate, Second Gentleman
Seth Ayala — Sailor, Tarsus Townsfolk, Third Pirate, First Gentleman, Lord of Mytilene
Melody Tan — Cerimon, Bolt, Tarsus Townsfolk
Kris Kim — Philemon, Philoten, Bawd, Votaress
John Bond — Cleon, Helicanus
Victoria Longe — Dionyza, Votaress
Crew
Peter Duerst — Director
David Ricardo — Co-Producer
Katherine Yee — Co-Producer
Edward Eaton — Fight Director
Victor Gutierrez — Technical Director
Kacie Bawiec — Stage Manager
Cami Ramirez-Arau — Assistant Stage Manager
Luke Anderson — Assistant Stage Manager
Cami Ramirez-Arau — Set Designer
Maya Levy — Scenic Painter
Ellie Plachinski — Carpenter
Azalea Weisblat — Sound Designer
Zach Obsniuk — Sound Composer
Cami Ramirez-Arau — Sound Engineer
Megan Goodell — Co-Costume Designer
Mehitabel Glenhaber — Co-Costume Designer
Seth Ayala — Thread Ripper
Hunter Richardson — Lighting Designer
Collin Fijalkovich — Assistant Lighting Designer
Tuan Nguyen — Master Electrician
Rachel Thornton — Publicity Manager
Loren Sherman — Publicity Designer
Cami Ramirez-Arau — Co-Props Designer
Elizabeth Parizh — Co-Props Designer
Elizabeth Strand — Hair & Makeup Designer
Tal Scully — Box Office Manager
Raine Hasskew — Tech Ninja
Robert Thorpe II — Tech Ninja
< Back to my Theater Portfolio
Header Photo: David Ricardo (left) and Kate Yee (right) as the narrator Gower and Marina. Photo taken by Tal Scully.
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