Pericles • 2022
ISC Rep Season 2022: Enchantment & Redemption
Guided by the ocean, our tale charts the odyssey of a father and daughter as they journey between six different kingdoms through a world of peril, beauty, and transformation.
The ISC Ensemble performed two of Shakespeare’s late romances in the summer of 2022: The Winter’s Tale and Pericles with an ensemble of 14 actors, featuring physical storytelling and original music, both directed by ISC Artistic Director Ariana Karp.
Cast
Mairi Chanel: Dionyza, 2nd Sailor
Joey Beth Gilbert: Marina, Pith
Kate Healy: Thaisa, 1st Pirate
Jane Henzerling: Hesperides, Lychorida, 2nd Tyrian Lord
Breshaun-Birene Joyner: Cerimon, Bawd, Diana
Ariana Karp: Gower
Alexander Lane: Pericles
Amy Meilander: Helicanus, 2nd Pirate
Liam Mitchell: Thaliard, Patch, Philemon
Geoffrey Pomeroy: Antiochus, Pander, 1st Sailor, Antiochenes Knight
William Potter: Simonides, 3rd Pirate
Emily Rankin: Leonine, Bolt, 1st Tyrian Lord, Macedonian Knight, 2nd Ephesian
Noah Segard: Cleon, Lysimachus, Spartan Knight
Clara West: Escanes, Pilch, Messenger, 1st Ephesian
Production Team
Zoe Burke: Intimacy Director
Vince Faust: Set Designer, Design Coordinator
Andrew Fearnside: Design Associate - Masks, Puppets, Set Props
John Flax: Movement Consultant
Lynn Goodwin: ‘Outside Eyes’ for Pericles
Meg Hachmann: Design Associate - Floor Design, Set Painting
Ariana Karp: Director, Sound Designer, Costume Associate
Iza Konings: Light Board Operator
Rylie Philpot: Costume Associate
Geoffrey Pomeroy: Composer for Pericles
Alexandra Pontone: Lighting Designer
Itai Rosen: Stage Manager, Technical Coordinator, Set Construction
Katrin Talbot: Poster Design, Photographer
Clementine West: Costume Associate
Director’s Note • Ariana Karp
One of the source materials for Shakespeare’s Pericles was a novel by Laurence Twine entitled The Pattern of Painful Adventures. Its title page was inscribed with the following: “Containing the most excellent, pleasant and variable history of . . . strange accidents. . . . Wherein the uncertainty of this world, and the fickle state of man’s life are lively described.”
In dialogue with one another, The Winter’s Tale and Pericles share some of the best elements of Shakespeare’s late writing: complex and baroque language, intertwined moments of joy and sorrow, redemption, humor, loss, yearning, forgiveness, magic, and beautiful reunion scenes. In both plays, time is an element that teases and deceives us.
The engine of each play, however, is strikingly different. Nearly every sorrow and loss experienced in The Winter’s Tale can be traced back to the fickle and destructive actions of madness, jealousy, and paranoia of one character, King Leontes. In Pericles, by contrast, the misfortunes that Pericles and Marina suffer and the joys they experience are tied to the randomness of fate, to those “strange accidents.”
This year, my priority was to cultivate a process where ensemble members were supported and empowered to grow artistically in responsible ways. They have thrived in the challenge of putting together two very demanding plays in repertory. Working with integrity and joy, they truly found what it is to play, to listen, to adapt, and to trust. It’s difficult for me to fully express my gratitude and appreciation for their commitment.
So why these plays now? We have suffered loss upon loss over the last few years, as a country and as a species. Some losses can be directly attributed to our own systemic problems, and some to “strange accidents.” These losses have changed us. Perhaps we may now find renewed connections by sharing laughter and tears. “The uncertainty of this world and the fickle state of man’s life” lively describes, to my mind, our current reality. We daily are “assailed with Fortune fierce and keen,” and whether we preserve virtue in the end, remains to be seen.