Pericles! In the park.

It is free Shakespeare in the park season! We are going to see Pericles--apparently the most popular play in Shakespeare's time. I made cake!

We arrived and brought our own picnic and then ate the cake. There were belly dancers to entertain us before the play started.

One of the things I love about Portland Actors Ensemble is the way they can conjure up whole worlds with minimal props. This is particularly necessary in Pericles because he sails to several different lands in the course of the play. Here you see the cast join hands to create the boat, with Pericles at the helm.

There is a terrific storm and the boat is tossed from side to side.

Until the boat is dashed upon the rocks and Pericles is thrown to sea.

Kelly, myself and my mother chat during intermission. If you look closely, you can see Pericles himself (Matt Volner--who was great) walking behind us to get back on stage.

Brian takes in the view from his blanket. There were many mosquitoes about and Brian's shoeless feet fed some multitudes of them. As the evening wore on and the mosquitoes really began to feast it was interesting to see which actors broke character and slapped the buggers away, and which just sacrificed for their art.

This play was a grand way to begin the free summer Shakespeare series. We look forward to seeing The Comedy of Errors in August.