On Being a Hipster and Coherent Shakespeare

I never thought I would say this, but I have genuinely liked a slightly abridged, American production of Shakespeare.  This past weekend I headed into Greenwich Village to see Fiasco Theater and Theater for a New Audience's production of Cymbeline and it was really good.

Of course, going into Greenwich Village, one cannot help but feel like a hipster.  The streets are lined with establishments of nonconformity.  And it turns out that hipsters travel in packs.  This I did not know. But lo and behold, I saw packs of 20-somethings cultivating their looks of disdain at the likes of you and I and their carefully chosen ensembles, designed to look like they were not quite so carefully chosen.  But I really can't mock.  I'm something of a hipster myself.  In any event, I had a delicious (probably fair trade and organic) lunch at a tiny little cafe and headed off to the Barrow Street Theater.
This Cymbeline will probably be the only Cymbeline I ever see.  It is very rarely produced and probably, rightly so.  It's called a problem play with good reason.  Every trope that Shakespeare ever used or created is in this show.  And that's not a criticism; Shakespeare was a great writer and knew how to use them properly.  However the plot of Cymbeline is so complicated that it is even a bit of a headache for the most dedicated of Shakespeare fans. Which is why I'm kind of glad they abridged this.  Which is not to say it was any shorter than your average Shakespeare fare, the Fiasco Theater company simply, judiciously took out some of the less relevant side plots.  This rendered the play far more enjoyable and much easier to understand.  Nor did they try to set it too complicatedly.  The set consisted of a sheet, two boxes, and a trunk, and it was perfectly done.  This minimalist staging framed the show without overwhelming it or rendering it incomprehensible as many productions seem to do.  They also set music to the show, which is something I greatly believe in.  I'm not calling for musical versions of every Shakespeare drama - that would be ridiculous, excessive, and silly - but they were originally performed with music incorporated into the transitions and when modern companies do it right I think it adds a lot to the performance.  It really was a wonderfully comprehensible production of an incredibly complicated play and I really encourage y'all to get tickets.

If I haven't sold you, let Ben Brantley of The New York Times help.  There are two reviews there; one is from the original production from earlier this year and the other is for the one that's currently on.  They're the same production, just in different locations