Cymbeline: A Rare Theatre Treat : K Street Magazine

by Stephanie Green

Fans of the Bard are in for a rare treat at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre this winter with Cymbeline, a romantic epic, so obscure that some Shakespearean scholars have never seen it on stage.

The STC is producing this lost but not forgotten gem of a love story for the first time in its twenty five year history, and pulled out all the stops to give its convoluted plot an otherworldly charm thanks to an intricate set design, ethereal costumes, and creative direction by Rebecca Bayla Taichman.

One is thankful for all the bells and whistles on stage because they offer some temporary relief for the headache induced by trying to keep all of Cymbeline’s facts and characters straight.

Pay attention, here is the not so basic story line:

Cymbeline is the fictional King of Britain, whose innocent daughter, Imogen, the main heroine of the play, secretly marries her childhood commoner love, Posthumus, who is banished from Cymbeline’s kingdom.Posthumus makes a bet with the scheming Iachimo that Imogen will not betray him, despite their separation.

Iachimo sneaks into Imogen’s bedchamber while she sleeps and steals her bracelet, which he falsely offers as proof to Posthumus that he was able to seduce her. Overwrought with anger, Posthumus orders his servant to murder Imogen, but the servant helps her fake her death, and Imogen takes on a secret identity as a man fleeing the country for her safety.

While in disguise, she befriends two young men, who turn out to be her brothers, who had been exiled by King Cymbeline twenty years before. After an exquisite, but bloody, war scene, in which the actors wield swords with a graceful abandon, all the characters end up back at Cymbeline’s court, kiss and make up, and live happily ever after.

“Never was a war did cease, / ere bloody hands were washed, with such a peace.”

Cymbeline is not a well known play for a reason: It’s no Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. But if you are looking for an artsy date night for Valentine’s Day, then this play has all the magic and romance you need.

*Cymbeline runs through March 6. Tickets $37 – $88 here.