To sing the song that old was sung - Cantando uma canção de outrora - A Public Act, National Theatre

Some reflections (it’s not a review) on seeing the National Theatre’s production of Pericles.

First, the setting. Conceived as part of Public Acts, a new programme for the National Theatre to make participatory theatre (inspired by The Public Theatre in New York), the Olivier was full with over 1000 people, some who looked as though it might be their first time in the space. And what an great vast space it is to view over 200 people confident on stage about to tell the old tale of Pericles. It is already a special start for Public Acts.

"To Sing the Song that Old was Sung ..." begins the Shakespeare text and the National production.
“The world needs this right now: space to unite and connect with one another, to feel like we're part of something bigger…” says the director, Emily Lim, in an article.
The production does this through telling the old tale for today, for all. We hear about birth and death; we see time passing; we feel loss. We all care for these timeless themes. How does it do this?

The performers are proud and confident in themselves and the story they tell and audience warm to them. The show is a version created by a full creative team (including writer Chris Bush and dramaturg Nina Steiger) and community groups. Full Credits can be found on the National Theatre website. The power of the story brings the audience and performers together in this public act.

Some highlights of how this happens...
(I do not have the production text so in the spirit of this blog I will use Shakespeare text as a reference. The texts were not necessarily spoken exactly as quoted, but these are key moments that resonated for me.)

 “Who am no more but as the tops of trees...” The tops of trees cannot exist without the roots. Pericles as a leader must take care of his people. Pericles has much to learn about his duty of care, but the relationship of the leader to his/her subjects is in the foreground. He must act in the interest of his subjects not himself. The people(s) as embodied through the cast of 200 are major protagonists in this story, alongside the Shakespearean characters. We, the audience, feel part of it.

 “We commit no crime, to use one language in each and several clime...” Whilst acknowledging the need to tell the story in English, the production wonderful opens towards the end to hear the music of multiple languages from all over the globe. Painting with sound patterns one world of extraordinary different human voices.

“Take in your arms this piece of your dead queen...” The action halts. We are told that what happens next is too terrible to show. It is here that the production makes a key change with the extraordinary voices of a Bulgarian choir that set in motion the full power of the tale. Pericles is given his baby daughter and we see the spirit of his dead queen passing. The human scale of this tragedy is given definition by an image from a previous scene. A dance duet performed by 2 older actors from the community cast, Pericles and his wife Thaisa. They beautifully evoke a gentler moment in the future, when Pericles and Thaisa have enjoyed a happy fulfilling relationship of many years. As spectators we reflect on time passing and the tragedy is quickened. It is a suggestion of a world of spirits and memory further developed when we see and hear Thaisa’s spirit in the minds and ears of Pericles and his daughter Marina.
"But what music … É música que... " The light is ethereal. In Portuguese ‘giving birth’ translates as ‘giving light’ (dar à luz). Thaisa continues to give light to Marina after her death. It is the landscape of fairy-tale but tells what happens more realistically (truthfully) than the event of Thaisa coming back from the dead as per Shakespeare’s original. We feel the loss more keenly... Is it also possible to begin to understand a little of why Pericles leaves his baby daughter? Why does he leave her for so long? We see the conflicted Pericles trying to come to terms with his grief through making amends as a statesman. He fulfils his duty as a leader but at a cost to his daughter. The public and the personal combine/conflict.

The story is affective in linking the personal and parental odyssey of Pericles with the wider feelings of the people he meets on his travels.
In Portuguese the connection between the words país (country) and parent (pais) highlights this. The story describes our empathy with others; how we act to those not our own kin. A country's worth is shown by how its people act to strangers.

"I never spake bad word, not did ill turn To any living creature..." We see the baby Marina growing up to be a young girl. This fairy-tale passing of time is made real. Multiple actors playing the part of Marina at ages 4 to 14 simply and wonderfully evoke the action. We see the young children on the stage and think about them growing up in our real world, and it makes the cruelty of what happens next more powerful. We see Marina’s bullying persecutors and her realisation that her father has abandoned her. Marina is not a character from a fairy-tale but a young girl vulnerable in the today's world. In my experience of working on the play with young people, it is Marina that creates the strongest empathy...

There were many fabulous visual moments and changes or adaptations of the Shakespeare text, but the heart of the story remained. I am reminded of the work with Shakespeare by Nos Do Morro theatre company, actors from the favela of Vidigal, Brazil. The essay by Beatriz Resende in the Nos do Morro book quotes philosopher Giorgio Agamben in relation to their approach to the Bard; "To desecrate is not simply to abolish and cancel separations, but to learn to make new meanings from them, a new use, to play with them. The desecration of the sacred is the political task of the next generation." (Profanations, G. Agamben 2007). Public Acts may be a political task but one that is welcome and timely. The people of Pericles' world are given strong and extraordinary voice. Their telling of Shakespeare’s story powerfully unites and connects the audience and performers. We all understand the search for home; we know loss and joy and we felt these together in this story, with these actors.