How to tell a mother that her son is about to be decapitated?
Is this a blurb for a gory thriller? No. It’s about real-life situation involving a severed head witnessed by an unsuspecting mother.
Let me explain. I’m afraid this involves a spoiler alert if you want at sometime in the future to watch a performance of Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline.
My story involves the production currently reaching the end of its acclaimed run by the Royal Shakespeare Company, at Stratford on Avon. It marked the 50th production by their Artistic Director Gregory Doran.
The actor who has been decapitated during every performance is Conor Glean, playing Cloten, the monstrous step-son to King Cymbeline. He is also son of the evil Queen, only referred to as Queen in the cast list. Queen has succession plans for Cloten which really fall beyond his general qualifications..
I will avoid further reveals beyond the wry comment from a Shakespearean scholar that ‘it’s as if in Cymbeline the characters are reprising roles and themes in earlier plays.
Betrayals (sexual and political), rape, decapitations (of course), mistaken identities through cross dressing'.
Oh, and if this makes it difficult to characterise, the play is described in the definitive First Folio, published shortly after Shakespeare’s death as a comedy. This has prompted many a learned article ever since. As well, of course, the even more Byzantine arguments about who wrote it.
Members of Conor’s family, including his mother Roisin, and myself, an equally doting Uncle, had arrived for the final weekend performance.
For the record, Conor, I mean Cloten, had already been decapitated once earlier in the day in the matinee show.
As we were reaching our seats, it became clear to me that Roisin had not learned the gory fate that was about to meet the character portrayed by her first-born.
To tell or not to tell … that is the question ...
