UBC is trying to raise around $1.3 million for a book that we (technically) already have a copy of sitting in the depths of the IKB basement. But after last night’s viewing of Paul Budra’s The Very Book Indeed — performed by UBC theatre students and directed by Moya O’Connell — I ventured into said depths, because I couldn’t not take a look at UBC’s copy of Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, otherwise known as the First Folio.
In the opening moments of the play, I realized it was a comedy —having gone into the play not knowing what to expect. But just as I was getting used to the fast-paced, witty jokes of the two actors on stage, the lights dimmed and a dramatically comedic, but also tragically sad violin appeared on stage, and the audience leaned in to watch the death of King Lear as he clutched the corpse of his daughter Cordelia.
These dramatic changes in tone were a common recurrence throughout the rest of the play. One moment everyone would be laughing with the two main characters Henry Condell (Dahlia-Raphael Kerr) and John Heminges (Alivia Sabatino), actors who had worked with Shakespeare before his death a few years prior. In the next, the audience would find themselves drawn into some of Shakespeare's most emotionally impactful scenes.
All these scenes are from plays that may have been lost if not for the Folio.
Condell and Heminges are working to compile all of Will’s (as the playwright is affectionately called by the characters) plays. While they’re doing it for ‘eternal glory,’ it’s also an attempt to preserve the works for actors to bring to life on stages for centuries to come. They’re encumbered, however, by scattered ownership rights, 17th-century publishing issues and the steep price of paper.
Characters like Ben Jonson, a contemporary playwright who is bitterly aware of his fading popularity, and Joan, a girl learning the alphabet with aspirations to be a writer and Issac Jaggard, who patiently teaches the audience how printing works in 1623, add complexity to the play by drawing us into Shakespeare’s world and his effect on those around him.
Executing a work like this one well is no easy feat on the part of the cast — they had to make constant shifts from comedy to tragedy, character to character. There were particularly notable performances from Ekaterina De Boni and Paula Goldie, who switched from playing Mrs. Jaggard and Mrs. Blount fawning over a Shakespearian actor, to then portraying the complex and difficult characters of Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth respectively.
The beautiful set, designed by Sam Cheng, included pages of the folio lit up for the audience to follow along as the cast pointed out discrepancies, mistakes, and points of interest. Simple yet effective costumes by Madeleine Polak, which were made to look like paper and featuring the words of Shakespeare, were a highlight. Accompanying moments from Shakespeare’s plays and verse was instrumentation played by the actors themselves right on stage, creating a sense of whimsy and making the production feel more interactive and engaging.
As I watched the actors dance to quaint music in the final moments of the play, I thought about what plays mean to me as a Shakespeare lover.
The whole play was sincere, funny. Each detail was well-thought out, from the interactive folio tucked into our programs to Kerr and Sabatino’s fingernail colours matching their costumes. I left with a greater appreciation for the legacy the First Folio has on how we enjoy plays, and why Shakespeare is celebrated 400 years later as, simply and singularly, the Bard.
The play is running at the Frederic Wood Theatre until November 30, so don’t miss out on a chance to see the First Folio come alive. As Heminges would likely say — whatever you do, buy [the ticket].
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