CLICK HERE FOR PERFORMANCE INFORMATION ON CYMBELINE
There are lots of plot “Easter eggs” in Bailey Kung’s fantastic and fun poster design for Cymbeline. They were kind enough to share their insights into the creation of the poster. Bonus – it forms a great “Cliffs Notes” to the plot of Cymbeline.
THE EAGLE AND THE SUN
The Eagle – There are lots of references to birds in Cymbeline! Imogen compares her lover Posthumus to an eagle, and her spurned suitor Cloten to a puttock (vulture). Later in the play, a soothsayer recalls the eagle again, this time as a symbol of Rome:
“for the Roman eagle,
From south to west on wing soaring aloft,
Lessen’d herself, and in the beams o’ the sun
So vanish’d: which foreshow’d our princely eagle,
The imperial Caesar, should again unite
His favour with the radiant Cymbeline,
Which shines here in the west.”
The Sun – In the passage above, the eagle is outshone by the sun, which represents Britain. Originally, I wanted to have another bird here for visual balance (Iachimo calls Imogen “th’ Arabian bird” – a phoenix). But the two were hard to tell apart and I thought it made more sense to have elements that were conceptually linked – the two kingdoms – opposing each other.
THE TITLE TREATMENT, ACTORS, AND COSTUMES
Title Treatment – Cymbeline is one of Shakespeare’s later plays and it has a lot of elements we’ve seen in his other works… and maybe some we haven’t. There’s a scene in which the god Jupiter literally descends from the heavens to offer his guidance to a group of mortals. Director Tai Verley wanted to pay homage to this moment by having the actors gazing up at the title. Producing Artistic Director David Stradley suggested “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Spamalot” as references for the text, hence the big blocky letters. And since Jupiter is a sky god, I added some lightning bolts.
The actors… and their doubles – There are 20+ characters in Cymbeline, and Del Shakes is doing this Community Tour with only six actors. Pictured here are Bob Weick (Cymbeline), Cassandra Alexander (Imogen), and Zach Valdez (Iachimo) – who, along with three others, will rotate in and out of various roles. Their ghostly doubles here let us know that we’re going to see them play multiple parts throughout the show.
Costumes – Clothing is a big theme in this play! People are dressing in each other’s clothes, they’re disguising themselves, they’re being mistaken for someone else based on what they’re wearing. And since the actors will be doing a lot of costume changes to play all the different characters, I drew some extra accessories over the photo. Bob and Cassie were actually wearing crowns in the shoot, but since we were giving Zach a big cartoony mustache, I wanted to make the headwear match.
If Zach’s pauldron looks familiar, it’s because I was thinking about a really cool costume piece that Cameron DelGrosso wore in the 2019 Community Tour production of Romeo and Juliet!
THE FLORA OF CYMBELINE
Director Tai Verley asked for lots of greenery and flowers in the poster, to hint at the parts of the story that take place in the wilderness, and to create a fairy tale feel. The text is littered with botanical references, so I had a lot to choose from! I tried to pick plants that Shakespeare would have encountered in the British Isles, but in my quest to choose a yellow flower, the primrose I drew is actually native to North America.
Arviragus, Imogen’s long-lost brother, references 3 of the above flowers as he mourns the death of Fidele, who was actually Imogen in disguise. But don’t worry, he (she!) isn’t actually dead!
“With fairest flowers
Whilst summer lasts and I live here, Fidele,
I’ll sweeten thy sad grave: thou shalt not lack
The flower that’s like thy face, pale primrose, nor
The azured harebell, like thy veins, no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Out-sweeten’d not thy breath: the ruddock would,
With charitable bill,–O bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument!–bring thee all this;
Yea, and furr’d moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-ground thy corse.”
SO MANY OTHER DETAILS
Roman columns – Cymbeline takes place in both Britain and Rome, so here are some columns to represent Rome! These are definitely an amalgamation of the different styles of columns – my apologies to any art historians!
Bracelet and ring – Imogen and Posthumus exchange jewelry as tokens of their love. When the two are separated, Posthumus brags that Imogen will remain faithful to him, and wagers the ring. Iachimo thinks he can get Imogen to stray, and when he’s unsuccessful, he steals the bracelet as false proof that he seduced her.
Poison bottle – The evil Queen (did you know there’s an evil queen?) plots to kill Cymbeline, the king, and his daughter Imogen, with poison as her weapon of choice. She gives the poison to Imogen’s servant, Pisanio, and leads him to believe it’s medicine. Later, Imogen, also hoping for medicine, takes it. But oops, it’s a sleeping potion! Double oops, the murder plot didn’t work. Triple oops, it’s one of those makes-you-look-dead potions (classic Shakespeare!) and it leads to a whole lot of confusion.
Letter scrolls – When Posthumus believes that Imogen has betrayed him, he sends two letters home to Britain, one to Imogen inviting her to meet him in Wales, and one to their loyal servant Pisanio ordering him to murder Imogen for her transgression. Will Pisanio do it? Will Posthumus regret making this plan?
And here’s how it all works together:
CLICK HERE FOR PERFORMANCE INFORMATION ON CYMBELINE
