The Pearl Theatre - The Acting's the Thing

One of the advantages of living so close to New York City is the easy access to such a broad range of cultural opportunities especially with regard to the theater. However it can still be a challenge, even for someone who reads the New York Times everyday, to find some of the excellent offerings that don't receive extensive media coverage or attention. A case in point is the Pearl Theatre Company located on St. Mark's Place in the East Village.

Back in the fall of 2007 there was a very brief, very positive review in the Times of this theater's production of Hamlet. I don't remember what it was that appealed to me, but I think it was probably something along the lines that the production was basic Shakespeare without so many of the changes that add little and to me take so much away. In any event, Carol and I saw the production one Sunday afternoon in October and it was great and at very reasonable prices. Especially noteworthy was Sean McNall in the title role.

Our experience made me pay attention to the Pearl's web site and their annual schedule of classical plays typically including one Shakespeare play, although we had not gone back since Hamlet. Then in one of those grace filled moments, my God-daughter Emily Ewing became an intern at the Pearl after graduating with a theater major from Smith College. Emily is the daughter of my close friend, Edie Ewing who died this past December, I was honored to speak at her funeral and posted that eulogy on this blog.

One of the commitments I made to myself after the funeral was to do a better job of staying in touch with Emily. She suggested we come to a play at the Pearl and she would have dinner afterwards. So Carol and I did so this past Saturday, Valentine's Day to see the company's production of Twelfth Night. I have to admit that I went with the idea that I was not going to like the play. To date my interest in Shakespeare has been pretty much focused on the history plays with some excursions into the great tragedies. My only prior experience with a comedy was The Merry Wives at Windsor which I really didn't enjoy. I think there is only so much comedy to be found in mistaken or hidden identities which to me pretty quickly degenerates in slapstick.

So after going into this exercise with a bad attitude it was no little surprise that I found that I really enjoyed the show. It was very funny with the identical twin confusion not over done. Once again I was greatly impressed with the quality of acting by the Pearl's company. Sean McNall moved from Hamlet to Feste the fool and played the part brilliantly. Also on hand from the Hamlet production were Robin Leslie Brown (Gertrude/Maria) and Dominic Cuskern (Polonius/Malvolio). The rest of the cast was new to me, but they were all good and I especially enjoyed Bradford Cover as Sir Toby Belch. He very took a Falstaff like approach to the part which I greatly enjoyed.

After the play we were fortunate enough to have dinner with Emily which gave us a great opportunity to understand what goes on behind the scenes (literally and figuratively). It's natural,I think, to underestimate how much is really involved in making the whole thing work and work, not just once, but throughout the run. Emily told us that at the same time Twelfth Night is going on the company is rehearsing for its next production Tartuffe - all of which sounds exhausting to me. She suggested broadening our horizons by coming back for that play and I think we might do just that.

Just before we went to dinner, Emily introduced us to Shepard Sobel, the retiring Artistic Director. When she told him that I was her God-father, it was a wonderful feeling, one of many high points of a great afternoon and evening. Emily sent us home via the R train to the Port Authority and our car - a total trip of about an hour - pretty good to the East Village. The Pearl is a Pearl and I highly recommend it.