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The Beard of Avon
By Amy Freed
Produced by Big Noise Theatre Company
At Prairie Lakes Theatre
515 E. Thacker Street
Des Plaines, IL
Call 847-604-0275, tickets $15 (seniors) $18
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 2 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 30 minutes with intermission
Through February 4, 2007
Authorship of Shakespeare questioned in farcical parody.
For those who have ever questioned if William Shakespeare actually wrote the 37 plays and 109 sonnets attributed to him and those who’s knowledge of the time, methods and social conditions of Elizabethan theatre, The Beard of Avon will present as a funny, whimsical, raunchy farce. For the rest of us, The Beard of Avon unfolds as too long, too over played and too vague. Yet, the parody has many funny moments, much exaggeration over-the-top humor that spoofs Shakespeare making the case that The Bard didn’t write the plays. What audiences bring to this play will determine how much they laugh.
We meet Edward De Vere, The Earl of Oxford (Terry McEnroe) who was a theatre patron, playwright, poet whose social standing prevented him from using his name on his plays and poems. He finds a willing front man in Shakespeare and one who’ll do edits and rewrites of the Earl’s plays. Shakespeare would take public writing credits of Oxford’s writing.
Amy Freed’s play pokes fun at the controversy as it shows that a glove maker’s son with little education and humble means couldn’t write such a large amount of plays that necessitated vast knowledge of European history, geography and politics. Freed’s play shows Shakespeare as a bumbling fool with a natural poetic wit and a strong interest in things theatrical. He aspired to be a leading actor in London.
This witty farce is well acted as Terry McEnore (Edward De Vere), Annie DiMaria (Anne Hathaway), Sarah Jane Blevins (Queen Elizabeth) and Scott Kelley’s William Shakespeare each landed their characters with energetic and strong comic wit. Director Rick Frerndt’s show moves along nicely exuding all the humor in the script. Frank Skony’s costumes were vivid and period perfect.
My main problem with The Beard of Avon is the writing: the work is too convoluted with too much inside Elizabethan theatre references. If one doesn’t know much about Shakespeare’s plays and his time, much of the humor falls flat. I’m not sure the play has a wide enough appeal for a Northwest Suburban audience. The acting and production values of Big Noise’s show were better than the script.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 12, 2007
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