Jennifer Lim Photo by Julieta Cervantes

Cymbeline is one of Shakespeare's last plays, and in many ways it seems to be a hodgepodge of his earlier works. Harold Bloom, in fact, called it a "pungent self-parody" in that it recycles themes, motifs, and plot points from previous plays. King Cymbeline (Amy Hill) rules over Britain, and in comparison with King Lear, he is rash and foolish in his decisions. When he finds that his daughter Imogen (Jennifer Lim) has married his low-born ward Posthumus (KK Moggie), he banishes the young man from Britain and tragic events follow.

In Italy, Posthumus encounters the treacherous Iachimo (Anna Ishida) and boasts about his wife's unwavering loyalty and virtue. In a series of scenes that seem like outtakes from Othello and The Winter's Tale, Iachimo then travels to England, employs cunning schemes, and upon returning to Italy, deceitfully convinces Posthumus that he seduced his wife. Enraged, Posthumus vows revenge and demands Imogen's death.

Meanwhile, the Queen (Maria-Christina Oliveras), Cymbeline's devious second wife who dabbles in potions and poisons, is plotting to marry Imogen to her son Cloten (Jeena Yi). Through a series of twists and turns, Imogen, dogged by Cloten, ends up in Wales, where she (àà la Rosalind in As You Like It) disguises herself as a young man. There, Imogen is cared for by Belarius (Oliveras), an exiled nobleman who, unbeknownst to her, had absconded with and secretly raised the king's two infant sons (Imogen's brothers), now grown into Arviragus (Annie Fang) and Guiderius (Sarah Suzuki).

Ultimately, with the assistance of Jupiter (Julyana Soelistyo), the Queen's confidante (Narea Kang), and a conciliatory Roman general (Purva Bedi), peace is restored both within the domestic relationships and the empire.

Directed by Stephen Brown-Fried, the production features some effective, intermittent visual touches. For instance, evoking the feeling of a bedtime storybook come to life, the bed sheets transform into a colorful bower representing ancient Britain. Later, the same bower is manipulated to depict the rustic Welsh countryside. (Ant Ma devised the simple yet imaginative scenic design.) In addition, ghost lights are cleverly employed to accentuate the play's atmosphere of mystery and duplicity, using light and darkness to create an eerie and unsettling effect. (Yiyuan Li's lighting artfully captures the rapidly shifting settings. Mariko Ohigashi's costumes help differentiate the class and status of the performers, who in some case double or triple roles.)

The all-women cast highlights how conventional notions of masculinity and femininity are products of their time and demonstrates the fragility of gendered power dynamics. As the lovers at the center of the story, Lim and Moggie are especially good. Lim beautifully portrays the lovesick young bride who later reflects steely determination in adversity. As the easily duped Posthumus, Moggie shades the characterization with impressive resolve and a poignant sense of regret.

However, at times, the performances overemphasize hypermasculinity, leading to moments that border on the cartoonish. For instance, the swaggering, pompous Cloten performs a love song that includes some audience participation. At the performance I attended, the scene fell flat. In fact, the production still seems to be finding its footing, and the pacing needs to be brisker. The posted running time is two hours and forty minutes, plus a ten-minute intermission, but at in the press performance, the show ran over three hours. By the time the last loose end was tied and the final reveal revealed, exhaustion replaced any sense of relief.

NAATCO and Play on Shakespeare deserve kudos for tackling one of Shakespeare's knottiest plays. Though the script's inherent challenges may not have been entirely resolved, the production serves as a testament to the play's enduring value.