Reviewed by Jerry Kraft
It
seems at times as if the drama has determined to become ever smaller. Not just
the small casts and minimal sets and briefer playing times, but the scale of
the characters themselves, the magnitude of their concerns, and the dimensions
of the world in which they act. That is at least part of what I find so
satisfying in Jeff Berryman's hugely ambitious series of plays exploring the history
and myth of King Arthur. This play, "Arthur: The Hunt" is the second (Taproot premiered
the first last season) in a trilogy, which will eventually be a seven play
epic. Its focus is the search for the young Arthur, hidden since infancy, so
that he can assume the throne and unite a warring and fractious Britain.
Not
only is this a complex historical drama, but it attempts to explore the
infinitely greater questions of how our earthly endeavors connect to the higher
powers of destiny and spiritual imperative. Berryman's language dares an almost
Shakespearean grace and eloquence, and his characters all bear the weight of
great historical forces, overpowering passions and desires, and lives lived
"...on the edges. Lonely places". Director Scott Nolte keeps the action tightly focused
and the characters nicely delineated in terms of identity both personal and
political. His use of strong dialect differentiates the many warring kingdoms,
but also requires even greater attention from the audience, and is sometimes a
bit too arduous. The opening scenes, between the various warlords, have a
tendency to shout a bit too much and could use a bit more modulation. The play
itself will not be to everyone's taste, perhaps a bit too arcane, but it's also
a story so rich and dimensional that for anyone willing to make the effort, the
reward is historical drama that combines breadth and depth, immortal scale
measured by individual lives.
At
the center is Morgan, daughter of Uther Pendragon and now Princess of Cornwall.
Emrys, the former King of Powys and counselor to Uther is desperate to know the
future of the isle, and no longer has "the sight", a mystical vision
that can guide and fortell the future. Now it appears that Morgan has that
power, and that she might be the key to finding the young man, Arthur, who can
unite the tribes. On her quest, her wanderings from the far North to Lands End,
she searches not only for the man, but for her place in all this. When she
meets a young warrior, Bledri, there is a powerful connection, and in marrying
him, in her tragically incomplete knowledge, she seals her own fate and
empowers the destiny of Britain. Though the other kings and Warlords have their
mortal power and importance, it is in this woman who must play the key role in
uniting the powers of earth with the powers of eternity.
Morgan
needs to be both fierce and vulnerable, a woman who nurtures the maternity of a
nation and is capable of lethal combat. She is an dreamer and a realist. As she
says, "In the end what's left for us but to catch a swift arrow to the
heart, and be done?" Sarah Lamb plays the role with a steadfast balance of femininity
and feral strength. She has a fine clarity both in her line delivery and in her
engagement with the other players, and while we can feel the weariness of her
long journey, it's also clear that she has whatever strength it will require,
and that her power is divinely inspired and mortally constrained. The role of
Bledri, played by Sam Wilson, whom both Morgan and he will discover is in fact
Arthur, is played as a decent and civil young man, and while that makes him
quite likeable, it denies him some of the stature we needed to see. As a
result, there isn't the romantic chemistry between Morgan and Bledri that needs
to be there, nor is there an epochal importance in their joining. The play
itself never quite gives us the revelatory awe that this is the moment when the
destined King will change the nature of the known world forever.
Terry
Edward Moore
gives the disempowered Emrys a nice sense of political comprehension and
personal responsibility. I particularly like the way in which he retains a
clear, earthbound political insight but without the transcendent vision he once
had. The Warrior-Queen Gwen is given focus and variety by Candace Vance, and Sean Cook plays Bledri's napping and frightened
companion, Bedwyr, with welcome comic relief.
"Arthur:
The Hunt" is an admirable and engaging piece of classical theatre, the
story of great figures enveloped in events that will change the course of
history. This is a handsomely mounted, solidly acted and largely satisfying
drama. It captured my interest in a distant time, and made it seem relevant and
important to the current world and to our own lives. It's a big piece of
theatre about big people in a big story, and just that made it refreshingly
important and enriching.