Have you seen the posters around campus telling you to go see this mysterious “Cymbeline,” and wondered what in the world that means? Have you seen groups of people in the Hartley Courtyard in elaborate hats, speaking what you think is English and wondered where that tour group is from?  Put those two phenomena together and you have King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe’s FREE and open-air spring performance of the lesser-known Shakespearean play Cymbeline.  Cymbeline is playing THIS Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 11:59pm, and Saturday at 8pm, starting at the Van Am Quad.  To get all of the details, Bwog’s Madysen Luebke talked to five KCST members: Matt Martinez, Emilia Lirman, Ione Wang, Daniel Garton, and Christine Rosenblatt.

Bwog:  First question on everyone’s mind:  of all the possible shows to see this weekend, why Cymbeline—one of Shakespeare’s hardly known plays?

MM: You’ve answered the question already! It is definitely one of the least known Shakespearean plays, which makes it the perfect show to share with the Columbia community. It’s a show that’s not usually available, which makes this an awesome opportunity to see a solid production of Cymbeline. Cymbeline is filled with action, romance, secret plots (a TON of secret plots), and an entire battle scene. What more could you want?

EL: Cymbeline is crazy. Because it’s less well known, it allows KCST to really make the production its own and make it an extremely unique, entertaining Shakespeare show.

DG: Cymbeline has got it all, and it’s hysterical.

CR: Think of all of the crazy devices used in Shakespeare’s plays – armies, combat, potions, evil royalty, gender flopping – they all appear in “Cymbeline”. You’re guaranteed to be entertained!

IW: You should see Cymbeline because it’s like all the other Shakespeare plays combined! True love, jealousy, death potions, cross-dressing, mistaken identities. Oh, also Jupiter rides in on an eagle. Is that a spoiler?

Bwog:  Did you know anything about this play before you started rehearsals?

EL: I had no idea this play existed. I thought that it was probably just so obscure that only the true theater-lovers knew what it was and therefore it was going to be “super legit.”

DG: I had no clue what Cymbeline was about. I didn’t even know Shakespeare wrote it, to be honest. When it was announced, I thought to myself, “Huh? What’s Cymbeline?” But as I came to know the play, I realized how insane and hilarious it was. It’s basically every Shakespeare comedy rolled into one massive production.

IW: I had seen Cymbeline once, and I thought it was such a strange show! I was curious to see how it would work out, but I’ve worked with our director Liz before and I knew she would absolutely make it amazing.

Bwog:  What’s the process of putting the show together like?  What’s it like working with KCST?

CR: Mainly I have worked with my fellow mountaineers, a group of incredibly kind individuals.  Even though we are only in the ensemble, we all work hard to help establish setting of the scene and give the principal characters something to play off of.  There’s a real team spirit amongst everyone in the cast that has been a joy.

EL: I’ve worked with KCST before and aside from it being a great experience and consisting of the best people on campus, KCST puts on some pretty great theatre productions.

DG: It’s a great way to meet new people and make a whole bunch of new friends.

Bwog:  What’s the most ridiculous moment of Cymbeline that makes it stand out to you?

MM: The last scene is absolutely hilarious. All of the secrets that had been brewing throughout the entire show are revealed and it’s so over the top that I even have trouble keeping a straight face on stage.

IW: There’s a lot of ridiculous in Cymbeline, I don’t even know what one thing to choose. Probably the last scene, when a million secrets are revealed and everyone lives happily ever after.

CR: There’s a scene right before the big fight between the Britain and Roman armies where myself and the rest of the British troops run screaming from Havemeyer to Low Steps as we rush off to battle.  The looks on the faces of fellow Columbians not involved with the show is priceless, I can’t even imagine what they are thinking if they don’t know it’s for theater.

Bwog:  Any last words for the Columbia community?

EL: Everyone in Cymbeline is talented and passionate about the show and we’ve all come together to create a really exciting show that everyone would enjoy. Come see Cymbeline!!!

IW:  COME SEE IT!!

CR:  It’s free!