Tell us a little bit about the plot ofCymbeline.

James Smithers: Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, secretly marries Posthumus. As punishment, Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he meets the devilish Iachimo, who bets him that he can seduce Imogen. Iachimo manages to get hold of evidence that convinces Posthumus Imogen has been unfaithful, and, enraged with jealousy, Posthumus orders his servant to kill Imogen. As they all go deeper into the dark, mysterious woods, the play twists and turns through unexpected places, and becomes filled with trickery, lies, deceit, poisonings, cross-dressing and a gruesome death.

What drew you to the new production of the play?

Jane Angharad: This is one of Shakespeare’s most interesting yet rarely performed plays, and it is getting a bit of a resurgence at the moment. The Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company have both done it this year: at The Globe it was presented as a reworked version called Imogen. It seems to suddenly be getting the attention that it deserves. It’s a dark story and an interesting play to get your teeth sunk into.

What do you think makes Shakespeare relevant today?

JS Although Shakespeare’s plays are set in a different time period, in a different country, his themes are universal. At the heart of every Shakespeare play is a message relevant to humanity. He writes about love, jealousy, betrayal, regret, ambition and revenge: feelings that we have all experienced at some point in our lives.

How have rehearsals been so far?

JS Fun! We have a large cast of 16, and our wonderful director Sean O’Riordan has kept us working hard while making sure we still enjoy ourselves.

JA There are some tricky scenes to navigate in this play and it has been very interesting exploring them and discovering what makes them work.

What do you want audiences to walk away from Cymbeline thinking/feeling?

JA The theme of power is explored a lot in this play: how people can hold power over others and manipulate situations to their advantage. Imogen is a great female character who rebels against this and accepts every challenge that gets thrown at her. So a message to perhaps walk away with is to never give up. But ultimately we just want our audience to follow us on a journey through this great story, cheer for our heroes, boo at our villains and leave thoroughly entertained.

Cymbeline runsWednesday October 5 – Saturday October 15 atDepot Theatre.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine