Cymbeline, theatre review: All the fun of the Bard

Packed with incident, the story of Cymbeline is wildly improbable, says Henry Hitchings, but director Sam Yates works hard to make this mishmash of tragedy, comedy, history and romance appear coherent
Innocence and humour: Emily Barber as Innogen
Henry Hitchings4 January 2016

Cymbeline has one of Shakespeare’s more bizarre plots — mainly lifted from ancient chronicles, but told in a style that’s often so frisky it begins to feel frantic. It features cross-dressing, decapitation, a god that descends from the heavens, confusion about potions, and an almost farcical series of redemptive reunions.

The central figure is virtuous Innogen — whose name was misprinted as Imogen in an early edition, with lasting influence! She enrages her father King Cymbeline (Joseph Marcell) by marrying regular guy Posthumus Leonatus rather than her creepy, clumsy stepbrother Cloten. Posthumus is banished and ends up in Rome, where he finds his belief in Innogen’s purity tested by the cynical Iachimo. In a separate development Cymbeline’s two sons, who were smuggled away years ago by a disgruntled courtier, make a spectacular return on the battlefield, fighting against Roman invaders.

Packed with incident, the story is wildly improbable. Director Sam Yates works hard to make this mishmash of tragedy, comedy, history and romance appear coherent. The result is a clear, engaging production that relishes the play’s pantomime elements but doesn’t achieve quite enough sense of its darkness — the depravity of its villains or the extent to which it seethes with images of money and debt.

Cymbeline’s dominant Queen, an aspiring poisoner played by Pauline McLynn as a gleeful schemer, is the only character who seems genuinely wicked. But there’s a satisfyingly sinister moment as Eugene O’Hare’s mostly understated Iachimo emerges from a trunk in Innogen’s bedroom, intent on proving that Posthumus’s faith in her is misplaced. Jonjo O’Neill captures the pensive melancholy of Posthumus, while as Innogen newcomer Emily Barber projects just the right mix of innocence, vigour and humour.

Until April 21, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (020 7401 9919, shakespearesglobe.com)

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