Shakespeare doing gory and glory
By ERIC ZENGOTA, STAFF WRITER
Date: 07-11-2003, Friday
Section: GO!
WHO: Hudson Shakespeare Company.
WHAT: "Henry V" and "Titus Andronicus."
WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday, July 21, Aug. 4 and 11.
WHERE: Monday ("Henry V") and Aug. 11 ("Titus Andronicus"), Frank Sinatra Park, Frank Sinatra Drive between Fourth and Fifth streets, Hoboken; July 21 ("Henry V") and Aug. 4 ("Titus Andronicus"), Shipyard Park, 13th Street and Constitution Way, Hoboken. (201) 865-1436, hudsonshakespeare.org.
HOW MUCH: Free.
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Heads will roll, forsooth.
And if guts and gore are to your taste, you also can see lopped-off hands, a murder or three, and a mother unknowingly feasting on a stew made up of her chopped-up sons.
That's Shakespeare for you.
More specifically, that's his Titus Andronicus, which will be presented by the Hudson Shakespeare Company. It's the story of a steadfast Roman general who's betrayed by not only the new emperor, but also by the queen of the Goths, whom he'd captured and hauled back to Rome. Titus' own family is decimated as the gods of vengeance are let loose.
John Trigonis, who's acted in five shows with the company, decided on this bloodfest for his first full production as director.
"I felt for the characters in their situations," he says, "and I wanted to bring it to the masses ... the absolute tragedy of this man's life."
The look of the play, says Trigonis, is "like a far-future parallel Rome." Costumes will delineate the strict separation of social classes, and the Goth army will resemble today's Goth teens, in black clothes with colored hair.
He's also aiming for hyper-reality in the most gruesome scenes, working with a mask artist who'll make the severed heads as "lifelike" as possible.
Trigonis is certain that "Shakespeare is spinning in his grave. I changed Aaron [the queen's lover] from a man to a female corporate executive, a power-hungry seductress." Their relationship, he adds, will be "overtly sexual."
In spite of the play's horrors - after all, four people are killed within 20 lines of dialogue - Trigonis feels "there's something to be learned, a deeper appreciation for life and what each of us has," as a man loses everything he's held dear.
Since the company's founding in 1992 - it reorganized as a non-profit in 1998 - this traveling troupe has performed plays by Shakespeare and others throughout the year in parks, schools, civic venues, and arts centers. It is celebrating its 10th year of presenting Shakespeare in Hoboken's parks.
The scenes from the company's July production, Henry V, alternate between the grandly military and the wittily personal. England's young king inspires his troops ("Once more unto the breach, dear friends") to victory over France at Agincourt, then charmingly woos the French princess for his wife.
Director John Ciccarelli, who's had his eye on this play for several years, wanted an actor as young as the historical Henry. John Short, 21, will portray the man who's learning to be a king. Henry, says the director, must have "a steely resolve in order to be an effective leader, but he also needs to have a reflective side. It's a dichotomy that every leader goes through."
The design will be traditionally medieval, with soldiers armed to the teeth with swords and battleaxes from the company's stock of props. And the words of what Ciccarelli calls "a timeless classic" are among the playwright's most stirring, especially Henry's lyrical "We happy few, we band of brothers" to his soldiers.
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Frank Sinatra Park has built-in seats for the audience; Shipyard Park is bring-your-own-blanket. Heavy rain cancels. Both plays also will be presented in parks in Hackensack, West Milford, Jersey City, Union City, and South Orange this month and next. For details, visit hudsonshakespeare.org.
