Cymbeline
by William Shakespeare
directed by Joe Turner Cantú
Performs in the Ford Center Studio Theater
- Experimental Shakespeare -

Cymbeline is King of Britain; his first wife died, and he married a wicked queen. Imogen, Cymbeline's daughter is in love with Posthumus, but her stepmother wants Imogen to marry Cloten, the queen's son. When Imogen balks and secretly marries Posthumus, the king has him banished. Before his departure, Posthumus gives Imogen a bracelet, and she gives him a ring. Posthumus arrives in Rome, where he brags of his wife's beauty and fidelity. When Iachimo questions this, he and Posthumus propose a wager that Iachimo can't seduce Imogen. Iachimo hastens to Britain, where he is rebuffed several times by Imogen. Meanwhile, the malicious stepmother has arranged for her physician to create a poison for Pisanio, a servant and friend of Posthumus. The physician, distrustful of the wicked queen, prepares instead a type of sleeping potion. This is given to Pisanio.

Iachimo, still striving for Imogen, is nothing if not crafty. The rogue hides in a chest carried into Imogen's room, and then steals her bracelet while she sleeps. While this is happening, Cymbeline angers Lucius, a Roman ambassador to the point that Rome declares war on Britain over an unpaid tribute to Caesar.

Imogen, in the meantime, gets lost and encounters Belarius, a banished noble who kidnapped Cymbeline's two sons (Guiderius and Arviragus) as infants twenty years before. Imogen, still disguised as the page Fidele, is invited to stay with them. Cloten, however, soon appears on the scene; disguised in Posthumus's clothes, he is on the hunt for Imogen and Posthumus (who he believes to be in Milford Haven).

Meanwhile, the war continues, and at the court of Cymbeline, the Queen has begun to go mad from the disappearance of Cloten. All eventually is revealed as the plot spins toward a dramatic, and peaceful, finish.

Prospero, a sorcerer and the rightful Duke of Milan, dwells on an enchanted isle with his daughter, Miranda. Twelve years earlier, the duke's brother, Antonio, and Alonso, the King of Naples, conspired to usurp his throne. They set Prospero and Miranda adrift in a boat, and they eventually found themselves marooned on the island. Prospero is served on his island by Ariel, a spirit who he freed from a tree with magic, and Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax. When magic reveals that a ship bearing his old enemies is sailing near the island, Prospero summons a storm to wreck their ship. The survivors make it to shore in scattered groups. Among these is Ferdinand, the son of Alonso. He is lulled to Prospero's abode by the singing of Ariel; there he meets Miranda, who is enthralled with the young prince.

Meanwhile, Antonio, Alonso, Sebastian, and Gonzalo wander the island in search of Ferdinand. Antonio now plots with Sebastian to murder Alonso, but this plot is thwarted by Ariel. Elsewhere on the island, Stephano and Trinculo encounter Caliban. After sharing a few drinks, Caliban tries to enlist the two in a plot to kill Prospero and rule the island himself. He even promises Miranda to Stephano. Ariel, however, reports all these goings-on to Prospero. In the meantime, Miranda and Ferdinand pledge their troth to each other.

Prospero isn't finished with his sport of Antonio and Alonso, either. He creates a magical banquet for the two men that vanish whenever they try to eat. He also sends Ariel in the guise of a harpy to hound them for their crimes against Prospero.

Finally, Prospero confronts his brother and Alonso, revealing his true identity as the rightful Duke of Milan. This leads to Prospero’s final act, which is Shakespeare’s written legacy.

Twenty-five years before the setting of the opera, Iolanthe, a fairy, had committed the capital offence of marrying a mortal. The Queen of the Fairies had commuted the sentence to lifelong exile, on condition that Iolanthe left her husband and never saw him again.

Her son, Strephon, has grown up as a shepherd, half fairy, half mortal. Strephon loves Phyllis, who is a Ward of the Court of Chancery. She loves Strephon, but is unaware of his mixed origin. Meanwhile, the entire House of Lords is enamored of Phyllis, especially the Lord Chancellor, her guardian. At the start of the opera, the fairies persuade the Queen to pardon Iolanthe, and she returns, introducing Strephon to her sisters. The Queen agrees to help when Strephon announces that he wishes to marry Phyllis, despite the Lord Chancellor's refusal.

The House of Lords enter, and appeal to the Lord Chancellor to give her to whichever peer she chooses. The fairies take revenge by sending Strephon to Parliament, and casting a spell to make all the peers pass any bills that Strephon chooses, including entry depending on intelligence rather than class. The peers are terrified, and appeal to the fairies not to carry this out, but they refuse, so all angrily spurn each other.

The peers are upset about Strephon's success in Parliament, and appeal for the fairies to return things to normal. One of the lords sings in explanation. The fairies would like to oblige, as they have fallen in love with the peers themselves, but it is too late to stop Strephon. Tolloller and Mountararat discover that if either marries Phyllis, then by family tradition, they must duel to the death. Both then renounce Phyllis in the name of friendship. Meanwhile, the Lord Chancellor has had a sleepless night, and eventually decides to marry Phyllis himself.

Strephon confesses to Phyllis that he is half a fairy and they decide to marry as soon as possible. They persuade Iolanthe to appeal to the Lord Chancellor on their behalf, and she does so, revealing that she is his wife. To save her life, the Queen marries Private Willis, all the mortals are transformed into fairies, and they all fly away to Fairyland, leaving the House of Lords to be filled according to intelligence not birth.