• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Donate

The Arts Fuse

Boston's Online Arts Magazine: Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Theater, and more

  • Podcasts
  • Coming Attractions
  • Reviews
  • Short Fuses
  • Interviews
  • Commentary
  • The Arts
    • Performing Arts
      • Dance
      • Music
      • Theater
    • Other
      • Books
      • Film
      • Food
      • Television
      • Visual Arts
You are here: Home / Featured / Theater Review: Schiller’s “Don Carlos”

Theater Review: Schiller’s “Don Carlos”

September 12, 2008 1 Comment

By Caldwell Titcomb

Some plays are so long that they drive people to despair. In the standard theatrical canon the palm goes to Goethe’s “Faust,” Part I of which runs 4612 lines, and Part II takes the total to 12,111 lines. Next comes Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt.” The playwright did not intend this to be staged and called it a “dramatic poem.” It is occasionally mounted with drastic cuts, though Peter Stein in 1971 famously offered it in two nights with a parade of six actors in the title role.

“”Don Carlos at the Gamm Theatre
“Don Carlos” at the Gamm Theatre — Don Carlos (Steve Kidd) and his father, King Philip II (Richard Donelly)

And then there is “Don Carlos” by Goethe’s close friend Friedrich Schiller, who finished writing the play in 1787 at the age of 28. It has 6282 lines, which Schiller reduced to 5448 lines for an 1801 edition. Just before he died he further shortened the work to 5370 lines. Even so, this far exceeds Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” whose uncut 3929 lines take nearly five hours in performance.

Enterprisingly, Tony Estrella, the artistic director of the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, has tackled this 22-scene epic and come up with an engrossing production. Working from an 1847 English translation by R. Dillon Boylan, Estrella has fashioned his own fresh verse adaptation, which under his direction runs two hours and twenty minutes plus intermission.

The play takes place in the Spain of 1568 during the autocratic reign of Philip II, whose formidable empire included the Netherlands, where there was much religious unrest that challenged the king’s ardent Catholicism, not to mention the arm of the brutal Inquisition. Like Shakespeare, Schiller played fast and loose with historical facts, though the main characters are authentic.

For all the political and religious strife, Schiller has woven matters of the heart into the mix. Crown Prince Carlos, once affianced to Elizabeth of Valois, saw Philip himself marry her (his third wife), so that he is now deeply in love with his own stepmother. He rebuffs the love of Princess Eboli, who becomes the king’s mistress.

Schiller obviously tipped his hat to “Hamlet,” with Philip recalling Claudius, and Don Carlos echoing Hamlet. Richard Donelly is powerful as King Philip, power-mad (“I know I am alone” and later “I am judge, jury and executioner”) and increasingly unhinged as the play proceeds. Steve Kidd’s Carlos is neurotic and intense, with a will that weakens. Schiller invented a wonderful character, the idealistic, freedom-loving Marquis of Posa, who corresponds to Hamlet’s companion Horatio and loses his life for his friend.

Posa’s first audience with the king (Act 3, Scene 3 in Schiller’s original) is magnificent writing. It’s a long, subtle encounter, and Estrella fortunately gives us a full ten minutes of it. Alexander Platt is impressive in this remarkable role. Norman Beauregard is fine as the Duke of Alba, the king’s deputy in the Netherlands. Georgia Cohen makes an attractive Queen Elizabeth. Amanda Ruggiero needs to temper her weeping and wailing as the rejected Princess Eboli. Christopher Francis Byrnes is a sly, portly Father Domingo, the king’s confessor, and Tom Gleadow is exasperated as the king’s bodyguard.

In the first half, King Philip comments, “Our Inquisition never sleeps,” and we see a near-naked man viciously whipped. At the play’s end there is a startling scene. A cruciform section of designer Sara Ossana’s drab center wall folds down, and the stage is bathed in blood-red light (courtesy of Matt Terry). Through the opening there steps, in cardinal robe, the towering Grand Inquisitor (Sam Babbitt). Ninety years old and blind, he nonetheless carries on a lucid discourse with King Philip and leaves no doubt about wherein lies the power behind the throne. This is one scary scene, I can tell you (it’s also a precursor of the Grand Inquisitor chapter in Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov”).

I have few cavils. It is hard to make sense of all the letters that are written, carried, crumpled or retrieved. I believe I heard Domingo say “by he and X” instead of “by him.” And the phrase “amateur theatrics” would certainly be unavailable in 16th-century diction.

(“Don Carlos” continues at the Gamm Theatre, Armory Annex, 172 Exchange Street, Pawtucket, RI through October 5; tel: 401-723-4266)

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

By: Caldwell Titcomb Filed Under: Featured, Review, Theater Tagged: Caldwell-Titcomb, Don-Carlos, Featured, Fredrich-Shiller, Gamm-Theatre, Theater, Tony-Estrella

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Art says

    September 12, 2008 at 8:24 am

    If readers are interested in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, (the silver medalist in Mr. Titcomb’s opening paragraph,) Portland Stage will be producing it in January.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Popular Posts

  • Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned? The Ailey dancers’ demands around salaries and the leng... posted on June 30, 2022
  • Album Review: The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s “I Am the Moon” — Part Two, “Ascension” The high quality of the material presented thus far jus... posted on June 27, 2022
  • Theater Review: “1776” — Still an Egg in the Theatrical Incubator This revival of 1776 tries to strike a culture wars bal... posted on June 5, 2022
  • Television Review: “Shoresy” — A Spin-off That Falls Short The Canadian sports comedy Shoresy works as its own ser... posted on June 7, 2022
  • Book Review: “Translating Myself and Others” — The Air We Breathe The cumulative effect over the course of Jhumpa Lahiri'... posted on June 15, 2022

Social

Follow us:

Follow the Conversation

  • Jeff Leach July 3, 2022 at 11:49 am on Theater Review: “Common Ground Revisited” – Revivifying HistoryAgreed, and I would extend Mr. Marx's criticism to high school arts departments, which too often turn to popular fare...
  • ReV July 3, 2022 at 11:42 am on Album Review: “Temptations 60” — A Joyful CelebrationHmm. Only thing to say: Evaluating a Temptations record - old or new - shouldn't talk about feminism or women's...
  • Domingo Warner July 3, 2022 at 4:28 am on Opera Album Review: Finally on CD — a Searing ’60s Opera from Russia about the Nazi EraIt's a gripping opera that doesn't let you go if you are an empathetic person. I thought that it is...
  • Scott McLennan July 2, 2022 at 2:22 pm on Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned?Thanks for this. Truly unjust treatment of these artists. I'm not sure I understand why it's disingenuous for the union...
  • Lillian Wexler July 1, 2022 at 6:48 pm on Dance Commentary: Contract Dispute Between Union Artists and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — ‘Buked and Scorned?I have been in dance administrator for over 35 years with both large, leading ballet companies as well as smaller...

Footer

  • About Us
  • Advertising/Underwriting
  • Syndication
  • Media Resources
  • Editors and Contributors

We Are

Boston’s online arts magazine since 2007. Powered by 70+ experts and writers.

Follow Us

Monthly Archives

Categories

"Use the point of your pen, not the feather." -- Jonathan Swift

Copyright © 2022 · The Arts Fuse - All Rights Reserved · Website by Stephanie Franz