Honolulu Weekly

Hawaii Shakespeare Festival / “When shall we three meet again

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?”

–First witch, Macbeth, I-i

If I had uttered that witch’s words upon a stage rather than writing them here, then problems a-plenty would soon rain down upon my head–or so goes the superstition about “the Scottish play.”

However, I have a timely reason for decanting that incantation: the Three meet once again. Not the witches, actually, but magicians of a sort. These “Three” are local actor/directors Harry Wong III, R. Kevin Garcia Doyle and Tony Pisculli.

Eight years ago, this theatrical troika stirred the pot one dark night at Gino’s Pizza and intoned the fatal question, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to put on a Shakespeare play?” Out of that steaming cauldron of chutzpah and pepperoni arose the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival. And this summer, the Three reunite to conjure forth the Bard and his plays once again.

“For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground

And tell sad stories of the death of kings…”

–Richard, Richard II, III-ii

Wong’s choice to direct, and the first play to debut, is Shakespeare’s Richard II. One of Shakespeare’s history plays, it’s not as well known as Richard III or Henry V, but Wong said he has admired it for some time, especially for the power of Shakespeare’s verse.

“Midsummer Night’s Dream is his most poetic comedy; Romeo and Juliet is his most poetic tragedy,” Wong says, but, “Richard II is his most poetic history.”

Wong has chosen an all-female cast, a tradition of late with the festival. Because his fellow director Tony Pisculli decided to try an all-male cast, Wong wanted to balance out the odds for the local female actors.

“Usually it’s more women that come out for the shows than men,” Wong explains. “I wanted to make sure that there were enough opportunities for the women actors to play Shakespeare.”

In the play, Richard reigns over 14th century England with a cruel iron fist, keeping his enemies fighting each other or destroying the ones in his way. Eventually he falls from power and turns inward, embarking on a search for self after disgrace.

“He becomes an amazing poet in searching for reasons, understanding his situation,” Wong explains. “That’s the turn in his character–he’s searching internally.”

“This world to me is like a lasting storm,

Whirring me from my friends.”

–Marina, Pericles, IV-i

Next up is Pericles, directed by R. Kevin Garcia Doyle. Pericles is an odd sort of play for Shakespeare because, experts say, it’s not all Shakespeare’s.

The first two acts are believed to have been penned by a certain George Wilkens, someone one source labels as “a relatively untalented reviser or collaborator.” Doyle himself relates that legendary local Shakespearian actor Terence Knapp had been involved in a production of Pericles about a decade ago and when Doyle asked him what should be cut, Knapp replied, “The first two acts.”

Doyle admits to some prudent pruning of the show and is extremely excited about the upcoming production. Unlike Wong or Pisculli, Doyle will be employing a mixed-gender cast, as well as some puppetry, with costuming by Sandy Finney.

Pericles is impossible to summarize, being a fairytale-exotic-adventure-romance comedy told by a narrator presuming to be an obscure poet from the Middle Ages. An odd play, as noted above, but Doyle has wanted to direct this one for years.

“I really enjoy the romances,” Doyle says. “What I enjoy about them is that they are romps. Basically, the play takes place in half-a-dozen locations: you have scenes with pirates, with prostitutes, a knight’s tournament and there are some dances over the course of the show. In a way, it’s like a variety show!”

“O, what a world of vile ill-favoured faults

Looks handsome in three hundred pounds a year!”

–Anne Page, The Merry Wives of Windsor, III-iv

The last show for this summer’s festival season is a well-known comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Here, the Bard pulled one of his great creations from the two Henry IV histories: Sir John Falstaff, a huge-bellied braggart philosopher hero. In this particular play, Falstaff sets out to seduce two wealthy married women, who soon discover his intentions and turn the tables on him.

“It’s the first time I’ve done an all-male Shakespeare,” director Pisculli says. “I’m not doing this out of tradition this year but mostly out of the challenge.”

Pisculli has scored a major coup in securing two of this town’s funniest improv artists, Chris Riel and Shawn Thomsen, for the roles of the two scheming wives.

“They have incredible chemistry. They have been performing together for years,” Pisculli says.

Throw in actor Jeremy Dowd as Sir John and the result, says Psculli, is simple: “[This] is an opportunity to direct just a fantastically funny show.”

Femme Capulet: Romeo and Juliet Remixed

The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival presents “Femme Capulet: Romeo and Juliet Remixed.” This “extreme edit” keeps the Bard’s original language but sets the action in the notorious Femme Capulet strip club (where sex is cheap and true love hard to find)