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Photo credit: Arcite (Taylor Neal) and Palamon (Tim Elliot) pledge their undying love to the indecisive princess Emilia (Phoebe Halkowich) in the photo top left before coming to blows in photo at left in "The Two Noble Kinsmen" which will be performed in Stratford on Saturday
Shakespeare's troupe staging of 'kinsmen' is
'A Noble Endeavor'
by Joe Myers
Stratford's Shakespeare theater has been dormen for almost 20 years but the Hudson Shakespeare Company has been visiting the town for the past 6 years.
On Saturday, at 2 p.m., the troupe will present "The Two Noble Kinsmen" outdoors in the amphitheater of the Stratford Library.
The performance is free and open to the public.
The Hudson Shakespeare company is a traveling troupe founded in 1992 by L. Robert Johnson that is based in Jersey City, NJ
"The Two Noble Kinsmen" is one of Shakespeare's only surviving collaborations with John Fletcher who became the Globe Theater's resident playwright after Shakespeare's death.
Scholars have argued for years over which portions of the play can be attributed to Shakespeare (with most of the agreeing the writer created the majority of Act one.)
Although, the play is one of Shakespeare's least performed works, it was chosen by the Royal Shakespeare Company to open their new Swan theater in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1986.
"The Two Noble Kinsmen" dramatized Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale", a story that is part of the writer's "The Canterbury Tales".
Last summer the RSC revived the Shakespeare/Fletcher play in repertory with a staging of "The Canterbury Tales" and called the program "Shared Sources".
The play follows two cousins, Palamon and Arcite, who are captured while fighting for Thebes against Athens. When both of the men fall for the same woman-Princess Emilia-comedy and tragedy ensue and the "eternal friendship" vow made by the cousins is destroyed.
Emilia loves both of the men. When she refuses the King's order to choose one man or banish the other, Palamon and Arcite have to fight each other for the princess' hand. The loser faces execution.
Hudson Shakespeare's Artistic Director Jon Ciccarlli describes 'Kinsmen' as a sequel of sorts to "A Midsummer Night's Dream", one where the magic is much more subtle and mysterious, but no less direct."
"Sword Play, pageantry, buffoonish characters and a dance number round out this hidden gem that is not to be missed", Ciccarelli adds. "Anyone with a passing familarity with Shakespeare knows his classics. However, even among his die hard fans lie certain 'hidden works' to are overlooked and go under-produced."
The Stratford library suggests that patrons bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread for Saturday's performance. In the event of inclement weather , "The Two Noble Kinsmen" will be presented in the library's Lovell Room.
The Hudson Shakespeare Company will return to Stratford on Aug. 18 with its production of "Romeo and Juliet".
The troupe will present "Medea" at the library on Aug 25.
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