Photo Credit: Liz Lauren
As someone who has steeped himself in the works of William Shakespeare for nearly 30 years as both an actor and director, James DeVita may be the perfect wordsmith to spin his own Shakespearean romp. An Improbable Fiction, his new play and part of American Players Theatre’s opening post-pandemic salvo, shows that the Long Island, N.Y.-born performer has learned his lessons well.
With its title drawn from a line in the Bard’s Twelfth Night, DeVita’s tragicomedy performed in the Hill Theatre concerns six familiar Shakespearean characters in search of companionship during the outbreak of the Great Plague, which decimated Europe during the 17th century. They gather in The Boar’s Head Tavern, run by Mistress Nell Quickly (Sarah Day) seeking emotional succor and mutual support.
Sir John Falstaff (a boisterous, blustery Brian Mani), now in his later years, holds court, presiding over Othello (Chiké Johnson), Cleopatra (Tracy Michelle Arnold), Juliet (Melisa Pereya) and an elusive character known only as The Messenger (Ronald Román-Meléndez). As a plot device, The Messenger reveals a bit of brilliance on the playwright’s part, representing a variety of bit players in various Shakespeare plays, thus serving as a link among the characters, who otherwise would have no reason to know each other.
And yet, they do know each other, spinning tales of woe from their own scenarios while caught up in the same issues affecting everyone else stuck in London during the plague years. It’s an interesting conceit, having the characters live in two different camps simultaneously, and one that may be a stretch for some audience members. But it does help carry the narrative—such as it is—forward to its conclusion.
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But during the first hour one wonders if there is any narrative at all. The characters spend a lot of time unloading a lot of exposition by way of introducing themselves. It’s slow going at first as many travel around the same circles several times. Arnold’s Cleopatra alternately mourns and vilifies Mark Antony—often at the top of her lungs—while Pereya’s Juliet talks little of Romeo and more about her father. Johnson’s Othello waxes on about Desdemona and deceit, while Mani’s Falstaff bawls and rails and repeatedly tries to incite the others into card games and brawls. And so it goes.
Then Falstaff takes ill, and we come to understand the play’s raison d’etre. From there, the narrative moves swiftly to its conclusion.
Comprised mostly of core company members, the performances are top-notch throughout the production. Director Tim Ocel keeps his cast stepping lively, even when there is nothing much to do, and scenic designer Nathan Stuber’s scenic design gives them a wonderful setting in which to do it.
In the end the ensemble unites and closes with a bittersweet song, with the stars shining overhead and the area’s signature whippoorwills trilling in the trees. It’s pure APT, and it’s good to be back.
An Improbable Fiction runs through June 26 at American Players Theatre, 5950 Golf Course Rd., Spring Green. For tickets and info, visit americcanplayers.org.
