• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

KING JOHN IN SHINY GOLD CONVERSE AT THE BCA

Written by FLAVIANA SANDOVAL Posted February 13, 2020 Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts

Photo by Dawn Greene

 

Walking into a William Shakespeare play—especially one about the bloody wars and family intrigue that marked the reign of King John of England—the last thing you would expect is to see knights in leggings and the king himself wearing a metallic gold suit matching a pair of shiny gold Converse boots. 

 

But that’s exactly what you will see in this production of King John by Praxis Stage. Directed by Kimberly Gaughan, it runs through Feb. 16 at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. 

 

Surprise aside, Praxis Stage’s King John is a modern take on what would otherwise be a fairly complicated, kind-of-depressing tragedy out of Shakespeare’s seemingly endless repertoire of plays addressing the monumental messes made by medieval English kings we know little about. As it turns out, the shiny golden outfit is a perfect fit for this king’s character; a man who seems so full of himself all the time, John was constantly haunted by the fear of losing everything and the unspeakable doubt over his own bad decisions, of which there were apparently a lot.

 

With an excellent cast led by Michael Underhill as King John, this production brings to life Shakespeare’s theatrical portrayal of all the royal intrigue and warring between “those two lover nations,” England and France.

 

My favorite moments came from the performances of Daniel Boudreau and Jane Reagan. Boudreau as the characters of Pandulf, Chatillion, a citizen on the wall, and most notably Austria (yes, the country), which he artfully depicts as a wild-looking, ferocious warrior with a black, messy wig handling unfinished business with the bastard child of recently-killed King Richard the Lionheart (don’t worry, it gets resolved, one way or another).

 

Reagan delivers a moving, heart-wrenching performance as Lady Blanche, arguably one of the most tragic characters in the play, marked by suffering and entrapped in a painful choice between her English family and her newly acquired French husband. Through Reagan’s interpretation, we experience the pain of a victim of the never-ending English-French conflict.

 

Overall, the cast is the highlight. The actors’ ability to convey emotions is what carries the audience beyond Shakespeare’s intricate narratives and hard-to-grasp, antiquated language, and connects us with the more universal themes that King John has to offer: grief and death, love and friendship, humanity and compassion, politics and legacy.

 

Praxis’s production sheds the excess to underline what is essential. With just a few props moved around by the actors themselves, the company finds innovative and creative ways to stage things that would often require a Game of Thrones-like budget. There’s none of that here; rather, a full-out war between France and England is a dance on stage, while the suicide of a prince is a delicate, slow-motion fall to the ground.

 

It’s all about symbolism. And if you can get past the Shakespearean speech and structure, it works. 

 

KING JOHN BY PRAXIS STAGE. THROUGH 2.16 AT BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 527 TREMONT ST. MORE INFO AND TICKETS AT PRAXISSTAGE.COM.

FLAVIANA SANDOVAL

Journalist. 2018 @PulitzerCenter Fellow. MS in Journalism @COMatBU. Formerly @BUNewsService & @prodavinci. Telling stories as a full-time job.

Related posts
  • FLAVIANA SANDOVAL
    https://digboston.com/author/flaviana-sandoval/
    “MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR AGAIN”: PROTEST AGAINST BIG MONEY IN POLITICS RETURNS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
  • FLAVIANA SANDOVAL
    https://digboston.com/author/flaviana-sandoval/
    “IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING”: GABBARD SUPPORTERS PROTEST CNN TOWN HALL EXCLUSION
  • FLAVIANA SANDOVAL
    https://digboston.com/author/flaviana-sandoval/
    Actors Kadahj Bennett and Hubens "Bobby" Cius play Moses and Kitch in Pass Over, a co-production by SpeakEasy Stage Company and The Front Porch Arts Collective. Photo by Nile Scott Studios.
    PASS OVER
  • FLAVIANA SANDOVAL
    https://digboston.com/author/flaviana-sandoval/
    LOL ON TRAGEDY

Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts Tagged With: BCA, Daniel Boudreau, Jane Reagan, Kimberly Gaughan, King John, Praxis Stage, shakespeare

WHAT’S NEW

Mass Supreme Court Sides With Asshole Sheriff In Prison Phone Fee Decision

Mass Supreme Court Sides With Asshole Sheriff In Prison Phone Fee Decision

State Wire: Mass Group Says Campus-Based Supports Needed For Former Foster Youth

State Wire: Mass Group Says Campus-Based Supports Needed For Former Foster Youth

Assange Supporters To Protest AG Garland At Harvard Commencement

Assange Supporters To Protest AG Garland At Harvard Commencement

We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical

We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical

Photo by Mike Connolly

Opinion: Defending the Right to Abortion

Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activist On Trial This Morning In Plymouth

Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activist On Trial This Morning In Plymouth

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical
  • Do You Want To Work For the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission?
  • DigBoston box among the boxes of defunct newspapers in Union Square, Somerville, Mass. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2022 Jason Pramas. EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SUSPENDING PRINT EDITION, GOING DIGITAL-ONLY (AGAIN)
  • Inbox: Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns To Boston Waterfront
  • How Long Can Major Cannabis Cultivators Sustain Massive Indoor Grows In Mass?

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 24.08 – 04/21/22

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]