‘The Shakespeare Conspiracy’ @ Rover Dramawerks
—Jan Farrington
Messing around with Shakespeare?
Why not? It’s a fun theater tradition on both sides of the pond—and Rover Dramawerks’ American premiere of British playwright Andrew Shepherd’s The Shakespeare Conspiracy gets plenty of laughs trading the Bard’s best characters in and out of their “home” plays—and into plenty of trouble.
Okay, the plot unravels in places, with loose ends and confusions, and rules that change as the playwright likes it. But in the main, The Shakespeare Conspiracy holds together in a goofy, giddy way—probably to the credit of director Carol Rice and an all-in cast who play things remarkably straight, and (almost) make you believe it.
Basically, here’s the sitch: There’s a yellow line down the center of the universe: fantastical, magical stuff to one side, and “reality” (sort of) to the other. In the real-ish world, the Royal Shakespeare Company is a centuries-old arm of British intelligence (“but with better costumes,” as everyone says repeatedly). Shakespeare’s heroes and villains are alive and kicking, and warriors in a 400-year fight for world domination.
Bad boy Iago (Cameron McElyea) is the mastermind—and if he manages to destroy or change Shakespeare’s original texts (locked in the RSC’s vaults for safety), well—we’re all toast, and the playhouses will close, again, forever.
Who can save us? There’s a prophecy about Will S’s “last descendant,” a travel agent named Martin (Michael McMillan), and a girl called Jules (Sara Parisa) who’s looking for love. Let’s start there: maybe a nice romance will get this story moving. The cast members throw themselves into the action. Martin has a buddy Valentine (Joseph Figueiras) who turns out to be Mercutio, for real. Through him Martin meets the mysterious Garfield Oberon (Matt Gunther), head of the RSC unit, who temporarily has Iago imprisoned.
Edmund from King Lear runs a therapy group whose regulars include Lady Macbeth (Heather Walker Shin), Richard III (Zeke Fayble), and others. Beatrice and Benedick (Savannah Valdez and Eric Knapp) trade wisecracks and chase each other nonstop; Burly Tybalt (Daniel White) provides muscle, but can’t speak; Puck (Ernesto Alanis) is Oberon’s minion still—and his delightfully delicate physical moves (such a watchable spirit) keep us wondering what he’ll do next.
Iago (McElyea is elegantly evil) demands a soliloquoy; Helena from Midsummer (Jenny Wood) follows her bliss; and there’s a set of Three Sisters (Nancy Lamb, Sara Carraway, and Kerra Sims) who can’t decide if they’re in Shakespeare or Chekhov. (There’s a lot of talk about leaving for Moscow.)
Fight coordinator Matthew James Edwards (and the actors) provide some solid swordplay. Kerra Sims’ costumes are varied and inventive, and Jason Rice’s sound and music choices are surprising (in a good way)—though they occasionally step on a line or two of dialogue. There are some lingering kisses, so I suppose intimacy coordinator Elizabeth Kirkland needs a kudo or two.
The Shakespeare Conspiracy runs for two more weekends—better catch it before Iago gets to those scripts!
WHEN: January 9-25, 2025
WHERE: Cox Playhouse, 1517 H Avenue, Plano
WEB: roverdramawerks.com
