The play involved several of Shakespeare's characters delivering a eulogy for their creator, using the words that he gave to them. Present and accounted for were Iago, Juliet, Shylock, Othello, and Hamlet. The costuming differed in style with a common color theme--black. The outfits were particular to the character: Hamlet in princely garb, Juliet in a black evening dress, Shylock in a robe, Othello in black top and stretch pants (?), and Iago in black T-shirt and jeans. (It appeared that the actor who played Iago may have been an understudy, as he spent the evening reading lines from a script. The costume may not have been what was intended.)
The play opened with Shakespeare on stage, speaking in language that fit the occasion and seemed to be original. From off-stage we heard his characters speaking famous lines. Shakespeare lied on a tabletop and appeared to die. The action then moved to the characters, delivering lines for which they are noted. Iago functioned as a sort of emcee. Hamlet led off with...guess which one. Juliet followed with the "Tis but thy name that is my enemy" speech. Shylock followed with a fumbled speech of money, flesh and Christians, which appeared to be a mash-up from Act I, Scene 3 of The Merchant of Venice. Othello closed out Round 1 with his "Her father loved me" speech.
The characters decided to go for a second round of speeches, at which point Iago left the stage and did not return. It was unclear why. Othello led off with the "Put out the light" soliloquy. Shylock followed with his "If you prick us do we not bleed?" speech. Juliet delivered her death speech and feigned suicide. Hamlet closed out the round with the "How all occasions" soliloquy.
For some reason, a seemingly dead Shakespeare woke up at this point. His nap or near death experience must have inspired him, as he delivered the "All the world's a stage" soliloquy from As You Like It. He addressed each of his characters (sans Iago), who then left stage. The play ended with Shakespeare lying down a second time (perhaps dying again?) as the lights faded to black.
I'm not quite sure what it all meant. The actors delivered their lines mostly adequately, but there was no sympathetic connection between actors and lines or between cast and audience. The entire exercise was disjointed and seemed to be only an excuse for roughly thirty minutes of oration. It was, to toss out another quote of the Bard, "wondrous strange."
As it turned out, it was also my only blog-relevant show of the festival. Although I had planned to attend another, it would have meant a second trip to The Avyarium. I simply could not bring myself to return to the venue in its present level of discomfort. So for Fringe 2018, all's well that ends.
