Shakespeare engaging if esoteric compilation

This weekend will bring with it another dramatic performance which seeks to highlight the woman's perspective. Unlike Karen Finley's controversial visit or theVagina Monologues' radical approach to the experience of women, To Play the Woman's Part: Love Relationships in Shakespeare, created by senior Sasha Pollack, returns to Elizabethan theater.

Pollack, who first performed Shakespeare 18 years ago as Cobweb in A Midsummer Night's Dream, writes that "Shakespeare's words have been a vital part of [her] life ever since." In the creation of To Play the Woman's Part, Pollack has explored Shakespeare's female characters' quest for love and the developments which ensue. According to Pollack, "Shakespeare's women, in particular, embody not only Renaissance ideals of feminine grace, modesty and womanly devotion, but also the extraordinary in all humans."

And in their Wednesday night dress rehearsal, all three female cast members did indeed portray each of these aspects. Graceful and soft when appropriate, Pollack and her fellow female cast members, seniors Jessica Umphress and Lisa Ward, portrayed in addition the strength, intelligence and capability of Shakespeare's dynamic characters.

Each of the four Ensemble members delivered with great skill Shakespeare's witty and often twisted words. According to Pollack, their collaboration on To Play the Woman's Part is an extension of the education they received in Paul Moser's verse class.

Senior Rajiv Punja, the lone male of the production, was particularly flexible and animated in his many characters; a talented actor, Punja's performance effectively brought balance to a primarily female cast. Interacting with the audience, Punja continually proved his ability to entirely assume the role of his character.

Punja, as well as Pollack, gave a new life to the ever-performed balcony scene of Romeo & Juliet during the first half. A highlight of the show, the scene was performed upstage under very dim lighting. In silouette, Punja (Romeo) and Pollack (Juliet) toy with one another until they can no longer deny their sexual tension. Unlike many interpretations, Punja and Pollack add action to this scene, kissing and flirting, then kissing again.

In fact, the ensemble's use of gestures in To Play the Woman's Part was helpful in engaging the audience. As Shakespeare's words can often seem foreign, the additional movement and facial expressions - particularly utilized by Punja - aid to clarify the intent of a scene.

Unfortunately, however, good acting was not enough to guarantee total success for this production. For those unfamiliar with many of Shakespeare's works, the scenes may be difficult to follow. With four rotating characters (Umphress plays Juliet in the first scene while Pollack plays Juliet in the balcony scene), it is sometimes frustrating and exasperating to determine which scene is being performed, and which actors are playing which roles.

The program attempts to clarify any such confusion by listing the order of scenes by the title of the play followed by the characters in the scene and the corresponding setting. Yet the progam does not tell us which actors are playing which roles and, as the scenes do not always mention names of characters, too much time is spent trying to comprehend the premise of the scene rather than concentrating on the intricacies of the script.

The plays from which scenes are chosen include Romeo& Juliet, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and others. Depending upon an audience member's familiarity with these specific Shakespearean works, the production may or may not be enjoyable.

Furthermore, it was difficult to find a common theme among the scenes, despite the program notes, which state that the "piece draws from the works of Shakespeare to follow the development of women and their attitudes towards relationships." This is perhaps due to the unfamiliarity with all utilized works, or perhaps a function of the organization of Pollack's piece. Constant character swaps and unprogressive scene changes complicate the audience member's ability to analyze the characters and their corresponding situations. In this way, Pollack's focus for her honor's project becomes somewhat jumbled.

In addition to confusing scene changes, there were also some unintentional pauses and confusions during regarding prop set-ups and sound effects.These imperfections will hopefully fix themselves by opening night.

To give credit where it is due, however, it is clear that Pollack spent a lot of time and energy in her analysis of Shakespeare's works and her creation of To Play the Woman's Part. The effort of the other cast members is also clearly displayed and the unity of the ensemble creates an informal atmosphere that is welcoming to the audience rather than alienating.

Shakespeare's works have taken many forms over many centuries and in many venues. While Pollack's production may appear to be just one more incarnation of the Elizabethan playwright, To Play the Woman's Part: Love and Relationships in Shakespeare is actually a unique creation. This weekend's performance in Little Theater offers Oberlin a chance to view Shakespeare's scripts in a non-traditional form.

To Play the Woman's Part: Love and Relationships in Shakespeare will be performed this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Little Theater. Tickets are $2 with OCID and $4 for General Public.

Playing the Woman: Lisa Ward as Juliet in senior Sasha Pollack's project To Play the Woman's Part (photo by Stephen Menyhart)