Tree Fort Productions uses poetry to explore romance in original ‘Shakespeare’s Lovers’

Most of us have only a passing knowledge or familiarity with William Shakespeare’s sonnets, hearing them rarely enough that it’s often impossible to tell in “Shakespeare’s Lovers” at the new Tree Fort Productions Projects where the Bard’s words leave off and playwright and actress Katherine Michelle Tanner’s own creations take over.

Tanner fluidly melds parts of 29 of Shakespeare’s poems with 19 of her own to tell a love story between a poet (Stephen M. Ray Jr.) and a painter (Tanner) who meet in a forest on the edge of a river. The setting could be in any number of Shakespeare plays, and the characters are identified only as H for the poet (think Hamlet) and O for the painter (perhaps Ophelia).

The pieces are divided into sections – First Love, Lost Love and Lasting Love. The two meet on that river bank (depicted by a shimmering stretch of blue fabric) while he is writing and she is painting. A breeze somehow blows his paper toward her, and he happens to catch one of her images, leading them to meet, form a bond through words and fall in love.

Both the characters are students and planning to spend a year focusing on their studies, which forces them to separate, but promise to meet again in a year. In between they write love notes on leaves that are placed on a barren tree that stands at center stage. One note or another gets missed or blown away as months pass and seasons change and they lose touch, unsure what the other is thinking, becoming bitter until they are finally reunited and acknowledge their true feelings through their words.

It is engaging, occasionally humorous and emotional, though I never felt it sweeping me away. That may be because there’s a performance disparity between the two main actors. Tanner is focused, ingratiating and a delight to watch. Her face is alive as O runs through a gamut of emotions. When the two characters realize the first blush of romance, her giddiness is infectious, leading Ray to join in with giggles, laughs and a more grounded performance as the poet.

Ray doesn’t display the same kind of vocal or emotional range as the poet, though he does convey the feelings his character is going through. At first, I worried that the piece would become a nightmarish stereotype of Shakespeare (and poetry) in which the words are delivered in a sing-songy style without clear intention or meaning. But that feeling quickly passes as the ear gets used to the language.

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The sections are linked by a narrator played by Blake Walton, who also directs the production. Walton floats about the staging as if carrying the spirit of the fairy Puck, setting each scene with stools, an easel or a writing table, and providing connective tissue. All that movement leaves him breathless and his delivery can sound overwrought. He seems to feel the words more than he makes us feel them.

But his relatively simple staging works well. The two actors are usually separated but come together in natural ways, and they are always within eyesight for an extra bit of connection. The play moves freely and easily through the three sections in less than an hour, keeping you interested in the twists and turns though perhaps wondering who wrote which parts.

‘Shakespeare’s Lovers’

By William Shakespeare and Katherine Michelle Tanner. Directed by Blake Walton. Reviewed Dec. 1, Tree Fort Productions Projects, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Through Dec. 17. Tickets are $40. 941-544-2276; treeforproductionsprojects.com

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Tree Fort Productions finds some romance in ‘Shakespeare’s Lovers’