By Joanne Engelhardt
John Heimbuch’s William Shakespeare’s The Land of the Dead is a pairing that almost works at The Pear Theater in Mountain View. That it keeps the audience’s attention as much as it does is due in large part to some fine acting performances and the steady direction of Sinjin Jones, The Pear’s artistic director.
Welcoming the audience at the first performance of Dead, Jones described it as a “Shakespeare-adjacent play.”
Though there’s no scientific data to back up this reviewer’s opinion, it’s likely there are more Shakespeare-inclined people in the “50-and-older” category, while the majority of Zombie lovers skew younger. Some audience members will be thrilled to hear Marc Berman as Sir Francis Bacon make the Bard proud. He has an extensive background in Shakespearean roles.
Other cast standouts include:
— Helena G. Clarkson as the white-faced (and white accordion-collared) Queen Elizabeth. Her heavily British-accented lines make her a force to be reckoned with.
–Arturo Dirzo as Richard Burbage, also uses a fine British accent. He’s also credited as the fight choreographer for Dead.
–William J. Brown III as Shakespeare himself. Perhaps Brown could have been a bit more forceful in his portrayal, but his commanding physical presence is impressive.
It’s best not to read too much ahead of time about this play….
As Kate, Nique Eagen is another forceful character. She and Burbage are lovers, and he wants to marry her as soon as possible. They both show real passion in their romantic scenes, although Eagen can talk so fast that this reviewer found it difficult to catch what she said, on occasion.
One of the fun parts of Heimbuch’s script is how many references to Shakespeare’s real plays are slipped it here and there by different cast members. Dirzo can barely keep a laugh from escaping when he mentions “To be….” And then mumbles “…or not to be.”
When Zombies show up –- and they show up many times –- there’s more than one insinuation that they represent the famous London plague of 1592-93. Whatever they represent, be prepared to be horrified as they seem to bite into the flesh of other actors on stage. Stage blood also appears which horrified one young girl at the Nov. 18 matinee. Nevertheless, holding tightly to her mother, she stayed to watch the entire production.
Surprisingly, it’s a tiny wisp of a character, Olga Molina (as Rice) who is the glue that holds this production together. Molina plays a boy who must wear a young maid’s dress in Shakespeare’s play, so when he gets offstage, he wants to take it off, but other characters are always commanding him to keep the dress on and go fetch something for them.
Molina also delivers a moving speech toward play’s end that almost made all that Zombie gore acceptable!
So: Is it true what one character says (“Only the dead shall reign”)? Best to see for yourself. Dead plays in repertoire with District Merchants by Aaron Posner through Dec. 10 in case you’d like a dash of the dead for your holiday merriment.
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Aisle Seat Executive Reviewer Joanne Engelhardt is a Peninsula theatre writer and critic. She is a voting member of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC). Contact: joanneengelhardt@comcast.net
| Production | The Land of the Dead |
|---|---|
| Written by | John Heimbuch |
| Directed by | Sinjin Jones |
| Producing Company | The Pear Theater |
| Production Dates | Thru Dec. 10, 2023 |
| Production Address | 1110 La Avenida, Suite A, Mountain View |
| Website | www.thepear.org |
| Telephone | (650) 254 - 1148 |
| Tickets | $38-$40 |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 3/5.00 |
| Performance | 3.5/5.00 |
| Script | 3/5.00 |
| Stagecraft | 4/5.00 |
| Aisle Seat Review PICK! | ---- |