Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood (Shakespeare By The Sea’s 2024 Production) Theatre Review

Shakespeare By The Sea is currently on the road, presenting two plays in parks all over Los Angeles and Orange County. This season is something special, for one of the plays they’ve chosen to present is an adaptation of Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood, part of the apocrypha. There is an intriguing story behind this play. Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporaries (both died in April 1616), though there is no evidence that they ever met. Cardenio is a character in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and also the name of a lost play that the King’s Men performed in 1613, based on the 1612 English translation of Cervantes’ work. As of 1653, The History Of Cardenio was attributed to William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, but there are no copies of the play. In 1727, Lewis Theobold claimed that his play Double Falsehood (published in 1728) was based on manuscripts he had of the lost play. Was he telling the truth? Theobold was known to imitate Shakespeare, so there is plenty of reason for doubt. What happened to those manuscripts? They were not found among Theobold’s possessions after his death. And even if he did own them, as he claimed, they might not have been copies of the original play, but of an adaptation by Thomas Betterton, making Double Falsehood an adaptation of an adaptation of a work possibly co-written by Shakespeare. This production put on by Shakespeare By The Sea is an adaptation by Jonathan Fisher and Anna Miles, and directed by Jonathan Fisher. So it is an adaptation of an adaptation of a possible adaptation of a work that was perhaps co-written by Shakespeare, itself adapted from the work of Cervantes. Got that? Of course, none of that really matters as long as the performance is enjoyable. And that it most certainly is.

The company does something rather ingenious with the play, which is to have William Shakespeare and John Fletcher appear as characters. So the performance is both the play itself, and a depiction of how it was possibly written, which is brilliant considering the play’s questionable origins. It also makes for some great comedy. And speaking of adaptations, the music playing as the crowd arrives is a collection of instrumental adaptations of pop songs from the 1980s done with one foot in the 1600s, songs like “Take On Me” and “Come On Eileen,” a playful touch to help establish the tone even before the performance begins. Then, as the performance begins, two actors stand upon the stage facing the audience, delivering lines out to them. After a moment, they stop and comment on the very lines they’d just been speaking, and we learn that the two are William Shakespeare (Ryon Thomas) and John Fletcher (Megan Ruble). Fletcher looks to Shakespeare as a mentor and an inspiration. Shakespeare responds, ”You’re feeling inspired by the garbage you just read?” He himself is not inspired, but doing this play in order to fulfill a contractual obligation before retiring. Fletcher, on the other hand, is young and eager to contribute to a changing theatre. Fletcher also questions the believability of a woman disguising herself as a boy, something that gets a big laugh, as Fletcher himself is played by a woman (and that bit will see another layer added to it before long). It is after that that Roderick (Will Mueller) delivers the first lines from Act I of Double Falsehood. And so we in the audience see it as a work in progress.

Shakespeare and Fletcher remain on stage, seated upstage right, ready to step in if anything goes awry or if a scene needs tweaking. DeMarcus Brooks is delightful as Duke Angelo in this first scene, helping to set a bright tone. Modern references are introduced early in the performance, with a boom box brought on, and we hear “Every Breath You Take,” the Police’s famous song about stalking, fitting for a scene in which Henriquez (Roberto Williams) tries to woo Violante (Savannah Moffat), a woman whom he is soon to violate. There are also metatheatrical references to the company itself, with Shakespeare telling Fletcher that of course this is a comedy, it is running in repertory with Henry IV (the other play Shakespeare By The Sea is performing this season), and later someone says to Fletcher, “It’s Shakespeare By The Sea, not Fletcher By The Sea.” And there is a running gag about Shakespeare coining many words and phrases, something that was also present in the British series Upstart Crow. All of this works to create a sort of flexible time, with the present becoming a mixture of the modern and the historical, placing the audience in both simultaneously, which gives the performance a certain exciting quality. It also frees the actors up to make some bold choices without the normal fear of going over the top.

Shakespeare and Fletcher do stop the action from time to time, as when they try to figure out what happened with Henriquez and Violante. It is Fletcher who wants to try new strategies, to take risks, and suggests that Violante is defiled by Henriquez. It is in that scene that a more serious reference to John Fletcher’s gender and experience is introduced. There are also funny references to Titus Andronicus in this scene. Henriquez’s speech about having enjoyed Violante is delivered to the audience, rather than to Lopez, who is cut from this production. Roberto Williams is excellent in this scene as he navigates the great changes within the speech, from regretting his action to justifying it. And as he directly addresses the audience, he attempts to gain our sympathy with this speech, pleading his case to us as well as to himself. It is fascinating and a bit unnerving at times. Violante then gets a chance to speak directly to us as well. “What will’t avail me/To say I was not willing.” She is compelling here, and in all of her scenes, Savannah Moffat delivering one of the production’s absolute best performances. When Geraldo (Chris Fine) enters, she instinctively recoils from him, which feels exactly right.

Leonora (Amanda Godoy) is having troubles of her own, as her father, Don Bernardo (Caleb Fietsam), has chosen a match for her with Henriquez, though it is Julio that she loves. Leonora reminds Henriquez of his friendship to Julio in an effort to get him to back off. Interestingly, there is a moment when Don Bernardo is so harsh to Leonora that even Henriquez leaps to her defense. It’s a nice moment which keeps Henriquez from being solely a villain. And if all this seems much too serious for a comedy, Shakespeare steps in with a promise of some “good old-fashioned comedy.” Enter Camillo (Alec Yamartino) with his cane, which he soon means to use as a weapon. He is particularly funny in the way he delivers the word “neighbor,” with a bitterness and disdain. The word, perhaps more than his cane, becomes his weapon. But to Shakespeare’s dismay, Fletcher contributes more and more to this play, which works well with what some scholars have believed, that Cardenio is more Fletcher’s work than Shakespeare’s. Shakespeare and Fletcher argue with the way in which a particular scene should play out, the characters having to do the scene multiple times as a result. With no resolution, Shakespeare walks off, leaving Fletcher with all the characters on stage, those characters seeking some direction, with shades of Pirandello.

The solution that Fletcher comes up with is to shift the play to a more pastoral setting, where Violante is now disguised as a shepherd boy. We’ve seen women disguised as boys before in Shakespeare’s work, and we’ve heard Fletcher say that it’s not believable. What’s unusual here is that Violante’s disguise doesn’t work, just as Fletcher predicted. First Julio (Mario Silva) and then the Master of the Flocks (Chris Fine) see through her disguise and identify her as female. And just as it seems Violante might be attacked again, Roderick enters. What’s interesting here is that as before when things were threatening to become too serious, we get a particularly funny scene, though while last time it was Shakespeare who ushered in the comedy, this time it is Fletcher. And Fletcher watches the scene with as much enjoyment as does the audience. The entire cast is strong, but Megan Ruble delivers one of the evening’s best performances. Fletcher still has trouble finding the play’s conclusion, and Shakespeare re-enters to help, though telling Fletcher, “This play is all yours.” Is it? Perhaps those missing manuscripts will turn up one of these days, and we’ll have an answer. But for now, we can enjoy this incredibly delightful and clever adaptation.

This production of Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood is directed by Jonathan Fisher, and continues through August 2nd. There is one fifteen-minute intermission. Visit the Shakespeare By The Sea website for the complete schedule.