Elizabethan 'Revels' are fun, familiar
By Chad Jones
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This year's production of "The Christmas Revels" may be an all-new holiday extravaganza, but it sure feels comfy, cozy and familiar.
That's probably because director David Parr and artistic director Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer have set the show during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It's a
well-trod era -- think "Shakespeare in Love" and any Renaissance Pleasure Fair.
In past years, "Revels," which opened last Friday and continues through Sunday at Oakland's Scottish Rite Theater, have taken audiences to far-flung
corners of the globe and examined intriguing winter solstice celebrations.
This year, we're in the heart of merry old England, and it's a delightful, if unchallenging, place to be.
The show takes its cue from an odd-but-true incident involving Will Kemp, a comic actor who worked with Shakespeare. Kemp accepted a wager that made him
prove he could Morris dance 30 leagues (90 miles) from London to Norwich.
With jingle bells shackled to his shins and a long white handkerchief in each hand, Kemp (played by the beloved Bay Area clown Geoff Hoyle) pranced
and leapt and danced his way to winning the bet.
The first half of "Revels" follows Kemp's journey through small towns, where he sees merchants peddling their wares, children playing games and kindly
folk singing "Wassail."
Once arrived in Norwich, the show's tone shifts slightly because, as they say, Queen Elizabeth is in the house. The queen (played with regal authority
by Deborah Doyle) is making a grand tour of her empire and has stopped in Norwich long enough to watch a grand masque put on in her honor.
Hoyle gets to unleash his comic flair twice, first in a mummer's play about St. George slain by the dragon. Then, during the masque, he performs a
"medley" of Shakespeare's greatest hits that is truly inspired.
Callie Floor's gorgeous, ornate costumes ensure that the entire 2 1/2 -hour show is a visual feast, while music director Fred Goff effectively blends
some beautiful choral singing with folksy fiddling by Shira Kammen and the bright sounds of the Brass West Ensemble.
There's more Morris dancing this year than you can shake a handkerchief at, and choreographer Marybeth Cavanaugh also includes an intriguing "buffens
dance" in which women wearing green felt hats prance about and clash swords and shields.
The traditional "Revels" elements -- the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, the sing-along "Dona Nobis Pacem," the dance-along "Lord of the Dance" -- are
all here and feel right at home in the British setting.
Before we sing the show-ending "Sussex Mummers Carol," Queen Elizabeth leaves us with some 400-year-old wisdom from a speech she made that still
resonates in the 21st century.
"If we have peace in our hearts," she says, "the disorder and cruelty of life will not overwhelm us with despair."