In the summer of 1995, the English actor-director Michael Pennington agreed to stage a new production of “Twelfth Night” for Shakespeare Repertory of Chicago (now Chicago Shakespeare Theater).
Pennington was no stranger to Chicago. He had come here in 1988 with the English Shakespeare Company, which he co-founded, in the troupe’s marathon presentation of the seven-play “Wars of the Roses” cycle as part of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago. And in 1992, he had returned to the festival with the company to present “Twelfth Night.”
But this was something different. This time he would be working with Chicago actors he did not know, and, what’s more, since he was appearing in a play in London, he would have to cast them through videotape auditions. But Barbara Gaines, Shakespeare Rep’s artistic director, was “invincible,” he recalls; and so, with many misgivings about the venture, Pennington arrived in Chicago in the midst of a bitterly cold December to start rehearsals in the Ruth Page Theater, a space he did not fancy.
The journal he kept of his experiences with that production has been included as the final chapter of ” ‘Twelfth Night’: A User’s Guide” (Limelight Editions; $17.95), a literate, witty and stimulating look at Shakespare’s comedy and Pennington’s contact with it over the years.
It’s a fascinating read, even if you don’t know a thing about Chicago theater, and, if you do, it offers an exhilarating account of an Englishman abroad, and occasionally adrift, in Chicago.
Here are just a few excerpts.
Writing from London in September 1995, Pennington told the Chicago design staff:
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“I want to look at ‘Twelfth Night’ from an American point of view if I can. I should explain that I’ve done the play twice before, in different countries, so I’m arriving with some luggage — things which always work for me. But we have midwestern actors this time, and we need to use their imaginations, not some assimilated idea of old England. I hate seeing Americans trying to be like the Royal Shakespeare Company — what for? So this will be a mixture of what I know and what I’m guessing at.”
On the way toward that goal, he had his doubts, as this excerpt from a December entry, after he had come to Chicago, demonstrates:
“I am dismayed to find that, at this nervy early stage Chuck Constant (playing the Priest) seems to be the only actor with physical grace on the stage. This is what the videos didn’t show, and an elegant Priest doesn’t quite cover the play’s needs …
“Myself, I feel both over-prepared and unfamiliar, as if I had once known a lot about this play but had forgotten it. Everyone looks at me, all the time.”
In the end, however, director and actors bonded and meshed. After the final preview in January:
“I carpet the cast for still being loose on the text and even a little smug about what they’re offering, and am rewarded by a most generous speech of thanks, enunciated by Howard (Witt) and applauded by all. The air fills with the sadness of separation. I’m asked for last-minute warnings, but that’s it. Breathe deeply, and no slow walking, please. Good luck to all.”
The production, and Pennington, are hits, but, writing later to Gaines from London, he says:
“To be honest, I was shocked by the last performance of ‘Twelfth Night’ I saw before I left. First of all, by my own work. … Why couldn’t I have left the actors with a deeper belief in what we’re doing? And Viola’s trousers need pressing. I know what happens when the show is up and running; the director goes, it becomes ‘your own,’ you get more confident, it all ‘grows.’ … But now I saw this over-confidence, all the ‘freedom’ spoiling our plan. Can you keep an eye on it, please? Do keep them fluent, talking quicker than they think they can.
“Whatever you do, you’re dissatisfied five minutes later. That’s why all Shakespearians dream of a moratorium on him — he’s just too much.”