Cincinnati CityBeat : 10/24/2007 : Tragicomic Fantasy

Photo By Sara Flatt

Lanny Lutz (left) and Corinne Mohlenhoff

Gambling is a risky business. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) has gambled big with its current production, Cymbeline, Shakespeare's obscure tragicomedy. In the hands of director Brian Isaac Phillips, the play is a freewheeling fairytale refracted through the lens of a carnival funhouse mirror.

The realm of King Cymbeline (Lanny Lutz) is in disarray when his beloved daughter Imogen (Corinne Mohlenhoff, as the serious center of the play) defies his authority and chooses to marry a commoner. The evil Stepmother/Queen (deliciously played by Amy Warner) sets fateful wheels in motion by plotting to put her son Cloten (Giles Davies) on the throne and by banishing Imogen's true-blue husband Posthumus (Jeff Sanders). Exiled to Rome, Posthumus bets the snarky Iachimo (Jeremy Dubin) that Imogen will remain faithful to him. Dubin, as one of Shakespeare's cruelest villains, surprisingly discards seriousness for comedy. His Iachimo's fey smarminess is over the top, but the character remains as vicious as one could desire. Davies plays the bumptious Cloten as an ass-grabbing idiot.

The mixture of tragedy, comedy and fantasy in Cymbeline has often been seen as a flaw. But this production succeeds because it respects Shakespeare's experiment in bastardizing and overlapping genres. Mohlenhoff creates a courtly heroine with the intelligence and pluck to venture into the wilderness. Sanders is convincing as the good-hearted Posthumus who transforms into a raging monster when he learns of Imogen's supposed unfaithfulness. Proving that there truly are no small parts, wild and woolly performances abound, especially from Sherman Fracher, Matt Johnson, Christopher Guthrie and Josh Stamoolis.

Will Turbyne creates yet another astonishing set, and costume, lighting and sound designers conspire to illuminate the play's fantastic effect. Cymbeline is finally a romp -- CSC's gamble pays off in spades. Grade: A

CYMBELINE, produced by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, continues through Nov. 11.

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