Zach Wyatt, Leah Haile, and Cast Photo by Johan Persson

The most momentous (and effective) liberty Harvey takes is to hand the role of the Chorus, assigned in the text to the poet John Gower, over to Marina, daughter of Pericles. Although Gower's work is one of the primary bases for the version of the story Shakespeare tells, Harvey is rightly and compellingly more interested in the emotional and intellectual substance of the story than in its literary pedigree. Supercharging the role of Marina by allowing her to map out her own story elevates the latter half of the play far beyond a retread of the preternaturally virtuous (and pointedly virginal) woman "saving" men from their own corrupting impulses.

Harvey's canny textual choices are mirrored in the adept staging. Jonathan Fensom's scenic design simply but elegantly suggests that the play's characters are perpetually at sea, both literally and metaphorically. The thrust stage of CST's Courtyard Theater suggests a ship's deck, which is reinforced by swags of ropes above. Most effectively, Fensom also hangs a quasi-"curtain" upstage, behind which ensemble members frequently carry out the everyday business of the different locales, or render the emotional beats of particular scenes in stylized dances and static poses under the exceptional movement direction of Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster.

Whereas the set and movement suggest the techniques employed in ancient Greek dramas (or at least our contemporary imagining of those techniques), the music infuses the production with an air of Shakespeare's own era. The music itself (composition by Claire Van Kampen, music direction by Elinor Peregrin) emphasizes percussion, punctuated largely by woodwinds, and the positioning of the musicians, upstage of the thrust, elevated above the main stage level, and hazily visible through semi-transparent fabric in two blocks on either side of the rope curtain, effectively incorporates them into the dream-like visuals, which are well-supported by Ryan Day's lighting and Claire Windsor's sound design.

Kinnetia Isidore's costumes work from a baseline color scheme to denote the different geographical locations, and Isidore layers tunics, vests, and other elements on top of these foundations to signal not just ensemble members shifting from role to role, but characters moving in and out of emotional states, moral positions, and so on. The use of textures, both saturated and washed out colors, and draping to convey a wealth of information is just spectacular.

Leading the cast as Pericles, Zach Wyatt is equally compelling as the naive young bride-seeking hero and the man unmoored by loss and the corruption he finds himself endlessly confronting. At the play's resolution, Wyatt's performance weaves beautifully together with that of Rachelle Diedericks as Marina to create a deeply emotional, cathartic reunion. For her part, Diedericks holds tremendous appeal and draws the audience in so effectively that the "reveal" that Marina and the Narrator are one and the same is deeply satisfying and, against all odds, genuinely surprising in the moment.

Philip Bird's beleaguered, cantankerous Helicanus lends complexity to a character that, on paper, might read as a rather superficial "loyal advisor." Bird's nuanced performance, in turn, helps to convey the real stakes of the discontent that Pericles' constant wandering breeds among the nobles of Tyre.

At the other end of the spectrum, Christian Patterson is achingly funny as Simonides, continually looking to the audience and demonstrating impeccable timing as he waits for them to ratify his comedic beats. As Thaisa, Leah Haile holds her own with Patterson's humor and, in the comparatively small space she has to do so, falls convincingly for Pericles.

The ensemble, as a body, is critical to the production's success in making the audience feel the characters' despair, but also their hope–a commodity in short supply in today's world.

In terms of individual performances, Felix Hayes is excellent, infusing the incestuous Antiochus with sly, arch, appropriately uncomfortable humor and showing equal skill at broad comedy as one of the Fishermen who rescues Pericles at Tarsus.

Gabby Wong as Dionyza and, at this performance, Sasha Ghoshal filling in for Chukwuma Omambala as Cleon, work well together to map out the much more mundane path to destruction that Tarsus follows, as Dionyza's maternal jealously leads her to try to murder Marina, who has been left in her care for more than a decade, and Cleon's moral compass fails utterly when he learns of the plot.

Chyna-Rose Frederick and Jacqueline Boatswain demonstrate exceptional range and, as in so many other elements of the production, lend depth and specificity to what might otherwise be generic feminine archetypes of the holy woman and the bawdy woman, the nurturer and the seductress.

Arguably the most interesting individual performer in the ensemble, though, is Miles Barrow as Thaliard, the would-be assassin from Antioch, and Boult, the would-be defiler of troublesome virgins. The play is fundamentally interested in leadership and the fate of a people when leaders fail them. Barrow's work as these two characters provides a rare, sharp, and thought-provoking look at the stakes of this from the bottom up.

Pericles runs through December 7, 2024, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Courtyard Theater, 800 E. Grand Ave. on Navy Pier, Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit www.chicagoshakes.com or call 312-595-5600.