Berkshire on Stage

Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, has been seeking ways to expand the company’s repertoire by collaborating with various arts organizations and artists.  This year marks the second season of combining Circus Arts (Pedro Reis’s Circus Arts Conservatory in Sarasota, Florida) with Shakespeare, and the third season of collaboration between Burrows and Jacob Ming-Trent in a mix of Shakespeare and Rock music, including both local singers and musicians, and others from across the country.  Some of these intersections have been more successful than others.  This third iteration with Ming-Trent (Shake It Up: The Remix) is disappointing.

It is a stretch to find common ground between Shakespearean scenes, monologues and popular songs, which is one reason that the Remix has been rewritten each year by Burrows and Ming-Trent (not to mention the need to change things around in order to attract the same audience each year).  But while the rewriting of Circus and the Bard gained some sort of unity by focusing on themes from The Tempest,  Shake It Up: The Remix cannot make up its mind what it is—Shakespeare scenes, a rock concert or an anti-war protest.

Indeed the production is not helped by Ming-Trent’s belief (as co-creator, Master of Ceremonies and vocalist), quoted in a Berkshire Eagle article, that the production is “a very well-organized mess with very gifted people” and that “I’m never seeking perfection when I’m onstage. . .I find perfection, the idea of it, boring.” To that end, he wants the performance to be loose enough so that it differs every time. Further, Ming-Trent would like people “to know that they can scream, they can yell, they can stomp their feet, clap their hands, get up and dance.”  While Burrows’ aim, stated in his oral introduction to the show, is to make us understand that war is not a necessary evil, nor is it worth the human cost (which explains scene selections from Henry VI (Part 2) and Troilus and Cressida).  Both Ming-Trent and Burrows told the Eagle that this is a “work in progress.”  And it shows.

Burrows is right that the Tina Packer Playhouse is an excellent venue for this work.  Designed by Alex Drake and Erika Johnson, the stage looks good—upstage is a screen and see-through curtain on which Brendan F Doyle projects images that literally illustrate the songs:  i.e. rain (Purple Rain), jungle animals (Welcome to the Jungle), water (The Fate of Ophelia).  Lighting by Luke Willson adds various colors to the mix. The band is upstage while the singer/dancers are further downstage, with standing mics and music stands (that seem to contain scripts for Ming-Trent and some of the actors to consult).  There is no costume designer mentioned—performers wear outfits that do not correlate– nor is there a choreographer for the dancing, both of which could benefit from their expertise.

The best use of the screen is the citation of the name, act, and words of each Shakespeare scene and sonnet performed. Some of the most successful scenes are between Beatrice and Benedick (from Much Ado About Nothing) and Romeo and Juliet, both featuring Gregory Boover—not only a company actor who makes each line of Shakespeare understandable to every audience member, but a terrific guitarist and singer.   

If only the words of the songs were projected as well!  Though the audience seemed to know and appreciate every song, clapping and even dancing (as Ming-Trent hoped), some who are not familiar with the words and message of the songs had no idea how they interacted with the scenes, nor why they had been selected.  The band and singers were amplified to the extent that the words were incomprehensible, which might have been acceptable if this were solely a rock concert.

All of the musicians are first-rate:  Boover, Jim ‘Chetz’ Keegan on bass, Benny ‘Fingers’ Kohn on keys and vocals, Shakespeare & Company’s own Jaclyn C. Stevenson, a dancing, singing violinist, Conor Meehan on drums and Johnny Irion on guitar and vocals.  Ani Djirdjirian’s glorious voice leads the singers, with strong support from Trezure B. Coles.

The intermingling of various arts and genres is an exciting and creative idea.  But this type of partnership must be carefully thought out in order to justify their connection in a a meaningful way, resulting in a unified production.

SHAKE IT UP:  THE REMIX runs from July 31—August 3 at Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse, 70 Kemble St., Lenox, MA. There are two performances per day. For tickets call 413-637-3353 or online at shakespeare.org. 

Shakespeare &. Company presents SHAKE IT UP:  THE REMIX, created by Allyn Burrows & Jacob Ming-Trent.  Director:  Allyn Burrows.  Cast:  Gregory Boover (actor, guitar, vocals), Trezure B. Coles (actor, vocals), Ani Ajirdjirian (actor, vocals), Kait Hickey (actor, vocals), Johnny Irion (guitar, vocals), Jim ‘Chetz’ Keegan (bass), Benny ‘Fingers’ Kohn (keys, vocals), Raya Malcolm (actor), Conor Meehan (drums), Jacob Ming-Trent (actor/vocals), Jaclyn C. Stevenson (violin, vocals).

Set Designers:  Alex Drake, Erika Johnson; Light Designer: Luke Willson; Sound & Projection Design: Brendan F Doyle.

Production Stage Managers:  Hope Rose Kelly and Adele Nadine Traub.

The production runs 1 hour 20 minutes plus one 15-minute intermission.