When I hear the name Pericles, I naturally think of the great Athenian statesman who helped shape democracy in the 5th century BC, a true hero of history. It is amusing that Shakespeare and George Wilkins borrowed the name for a completely different hero, reworking in 1609 the soapy medieval legend of Apollonius of Tyre and renaming him Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Convoluted and melodramatic, this lesser-loved epic has found unlikely transcendence in Pericles: A Public Works Concert Experience, staged in the high nave of the iconic Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Harlem.

The company of PERICLES: A Public Works Concert Experience

Ato Blankson-Wood and Denée Benton

The free Public Works production is reconceived by joyful composer, lyricist, and playwright Troy Anthony as a gospel-infused celebration of life, backed by a committed cross-section of artists and everyday people. The setting and the sense of community are a big part of the spell, even if the story remains as convoluted as it was in the 1600s. It begins with a riddle and ends with a revelation. In between: incest, shipwrecks, pirates, brothels, assassins, prophecies, and enough emotional whiplashes to make Freud and Jung pay attention. Fortunately, Crystal Lucas-Perry as Gower is the steady hand through the many storms, and she is not just a moral narrator but a gospel griot, her voice radiant with charisma and command. Even when the play descends into the bizarre, she pulls you right back in.

Crystal Lucas-Perry

The story starts with a scandal: Prince Pericles (Ato Blankson-Wood) shows up in Antioch looking for love and ends up staring down one of the creepiest riddles ever written. It is a poetic, thinly veiled reveal of the incestuous relationship between King Antiochus (Kamal Sabra) and his daughter. Instead of marrying her, Pericles bolts, wisely choosing survival over an ugly scandal. King Antiochus, naturally, sends assassins after him to shut him up.

Amina Faye and Wil Lowe (center) and the company

After a terrible storm, Pericles ends up in Tarsus, where he saves the city from famine and is welcomed by its passive ruler, Cleon (Joel Frost). His wife, Dionyza, played with chilling charm by Erika Myers, starts off warm and pleasant but her ambition bubbles just beneath the surface. The voyage continues and, back home in Tyre, Pericles checks in with his right-hand advisor, Helicanus (Debra Harewood), who is as loyal as they come. They decide that it is safer for everyone if the prince vanishes again to avoid the assassins, so off he goes, only to get shipwrecked once more and land in Pentapolis.

Alex Newell

There, at the court of King Simonides (Kenneth Collins), things finally take a turn for the better. Pericles joins a jousting tournament (a fun dance battle), wins, and marries the king’s daughter Thaisa (Denée Benton in full grace and power.) It is one of the few joyful moments in the play and it actually sparkles. But in this story, happiness is on a timer: the couple gets married, has a baby, and then another sea storm ruins everything. Pericles’ beloved Thaisa dies in childbirth and is promptly tossed overboard in a makeshift body bag. Grief-stricken, he leaves their newborn daughter, Marina, in Tarsus under the care of her nurse, Lychorida (Fatemata Krubally), who dies not long after. Pericles disappears for years.

Vivian Jett Brown

It is enough drama for a two-hour tragedy but Shakespeare and Wilkins aren’t done yet. Thaisa’s dead body washes up in Ephesus, where Cerimon (Marcia Rose), a wise healer, performs a bit of medical magic and brings her back to life. She becomes a priestess of the goddess Diana, basically entering spiritual witness protection. Meanwhile, over in Tarsus, her daughter Marina (Amina Faye) has become a beautiful, kind, and accomplished girl and she makes queen Dionyza’s own daughter look bad. Dionyza decides the best solution is to have the girl murdered, so she hires Leonine (Eric Herrera), a sketchy assassin with zero scruples. But just as he is about to do the deed, ninja pirates appear out of nowhere and kidnap Marina. Of course they do. And it gets better: they sell her to a brothel in Mytilene.

Erika Myers and Joel Frost

Instead of being broken, Marina turns the place upside down. She uses her intelligence and virtue to convert her clients. Enter Bolt (Uwimana Liverpool), a low-level security guard at the brothel who has been told to “break her in.” Instead, her presence somehow scrambles his sleazy programming, and in a slightly implausible turn he helps her escape. Faye’s Marina is luminous; every time she enters stage, the tone of the scene changes. Lori Brown-Niang brings sharp comic timing to Bawd, the madam who runs the brothel, and who also slowly unravels when faced with Marina’s goodness.

Ato Blankson-Wood and Crystal Lucas-Perry

And then there is Lysimachus (Will Lowe), the Governor of Mytilene. He shows up expecting the usual brothel experience but when he meets Marina he has a spiritual epiphany, and eventually marries her. Pericles finally drifts into Mytilene, still grieving, to discover that not only is his daughter alive, but so is his wife. It is the kind of triple reunion that only divine intervention could pull off, and that’s exactly what happens. Enter Alex Newell as the goddess Diana, descending in the final moments with all the heavenly drama of a Broadway diva beamed in straight from Olympus by way of Harlem. She wraps up the chaos with grace and glamour, blesses the family reunion, and closes the play.

Denée Benton

Under the direction of Carl Cofield, Associate Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem, the production moves through the story’s twists and turns with energy and heart. Troy Anthony’s score and lyrics bring the whole thing to life, rich with gospel harmonies, touches of blues, hints of soul, funk, pop, and classic Broadway vibes. Musicians Kareem Matcham (keys), Terrel McCollins (bass), Sanchell St. Fleur (drums), Ben Weiss (guitar), and St John the Divine organist Daniel Ficarri keep the rhythm going. Choreographer Tiffany Rea-Fisher helps to move actors through the giant cathedral with elegance, including the 100 Public Works community members, cameo groups Alpha Phi Alpha, EMERGE125, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, Khasso Arts, and The Marching Cobras, a drum line with a dance squad that made everybody stand up and cheer.

Debra Harewood

Riw Rakkulchon’s production design and Melissa Mizell’s lighting are spare but evocative, making the most of a grand but challenging space. Unfortunately, the absence of a properly elevated, fully rigged stage made it difficult for much of the audience to get a clear view of the action, including me. Monitors on the columns helped, but with so many performers and so much happening at once, following the plot or the lyrics wasn’t easy. The sound design, by Justin Stasiw and Walter Trarbach, and Sam Appiah’s musical direction suffered from the same problems: the size of the Cathedral and the number of performers. It is almost impossible to ensure that each line and choral climax is heard with precision throughout the nave. The script could also benefit from a few trims; then again, with so much packed into this story, I get why it’s a tough one to cut. That said, I saw one of the early performances, and I trust these technical kinks will smooth out as the short run continues through September 2.

Amina Faye and Eric Herrera

Alex Newell (center)

Pericles isn’t the easiest play to love, but in this joyous production, it’s not just the cast, music, or lyrics that make it special, it’s the community. The choir, the voices of everyday New Yorkers, give the show its soul. At a time when we so often feel disconnected, when a true sense of community is increasingly rare, this feels like something deeply human and needed. I walked out of the Cathedral not quite sure whether to applaud or say amen because, honestly, either one felt right.

Ato Blankson-Wood

photos by Marc J. Franklin

Amina Faye

Pericles: A Public Works Concert Experience
The Public Theater
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave
ends on September 2, 2025
for tickets (free), visit The Public