Humans don’t really change. Watching The Rover, or The Banish’d Cavaliers at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, you could swear it’s just a modern bawdy romcom Google-Translated into 17th-century English. Broken promises, disloyalty, treacherous men, sincere men, women who are more than what meets the eye, women who aren’t: it’s all here. The Rover, written by Aphra Behn, premiered in 1677 in London and is a rare play written by a woman during this period. It was a wildly popular show upon its release, garnering huge success and huge controversy for its comedy and bawdiness.
This performance is delivered by the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy players, who are earning their MFA after a one-year intensive program around “classical text study, stage combat, and more.” At the conclusion of their program, students are performing in two plays that give them the chance to “work with classical language and embody mythic storytelling.” This year, those two plays are Romeo and Juliet and The Rover.
Under Eleanor Holdridge’s direction, this play has taken on new life: it’s Moulin Rouge-esque in its use of a European historical setting for its timeless story, with an injection of modern tastes, particularly modern pop music. In familiar fashion, songs have been added throughout the show to punctuate characters’ experiences, even clarifying them when the historical language might disguise meaning for some. “Hot Stuff,” “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and “It’s Raining Men” are some of the truly epic selections.
Jacob Brandt delights as Belvile, who is true and chivalrous to the chaste Florinda, who is played by Jenna Hochkammer with poise and elegance that make her character a fitting narrative counterpart to the show’s numerous courtesans. Angellica Bianca, played by Katrina Clark, is the Mean Girl of the set — the blonde whom the other women, and men, worship and fear. She falls for Willmore, the smarmy titular “Rover,” played by Jon Beal. He swears loyalty to one woman in one breath and in the next — even in the same scene, when both women are in the room — will pledge love to another. Brandt is utterly convincing in conveying his character’s oiliness.
But this brings about some issues. This play is Merchant of Venice–esque in that it was intended as a comedy in its time, but the way it handles social issues makes it less viable: maybe it’s fun to see wily men at their schemes, but when those schemes involve assault and harrassment, and are treated as comedic in the script — punch lines and all — they’re harder to swallow. The comedic and lighthearted direction is so wonderful in moments — I found myself singing along to many of the pop music selections — but when the play’s protagonist is a serial adulterer and assaulter, and in one key scene, drunkenly harangues an innocent, protesting woman, it’s hard to get behind the play’s thesis that this is all a good time. When at the end of the play Willmore manages to convince one of the story’s more intelligent women that he’s worth her hand in marriage, it’s hard not to mourn the fall and misery-to-come of one of the play’s few discerning female characters.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy players certainly do an excellent job of delivering this play as Behn intended it, and there are laughs and delights throughout. While the material invites problems, the show a fascinating commentary on what has changed and what hasn’t.
The Rover, or The Banish’d Cavaliers played through July 27, 2024, presented by the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy performing at the Michael R. Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC.
Performance Dates
July 18 at 6 pm
July 21 & 24 at 7:30 pm
July 26 at 8 pm
July 27 at 2 pm
The full cast and crew list can be viewed in the online program.
COVID Safety: All STC spaces are mask-friendly — meaning all patrons, masks and unmasked, are welcome. Read more about Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Health and Safety policies here.
SEE ALSO:
High energy and raw performances in STC Academy’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (review by Julian Oquendo, July 19, 2024)
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