Santa Monica audiences are experiencing a refreshingly anachronistic theatrical event: Patrick Page’s solo performance, “All the Devils Are Here,” opened Thursday at BroadStage, offering a captivating exploration of Shakespeare’s most notorious villains.
A Rogues’ Gallery Brought to Life
Page’s one-man show animates Shakespearean scoundrels with a crackling energy, revealing the surprisingly human motivations behind their wickedness.
- Page, a Tony-nominated actor, delves into the psychology of shakespeare’s villains, from Iago to Lady Macbeth.
- The production highlights how Shakespeare evolved the portrayal of villainy, moving beyond simple stereotypes.
- “All the Devils Are Here” emphasizes the unsettlingly relatable desires and fears that drive even the most monstrous characters.
Villains come naturally to Page, a stage veteran who doesn’t rely on caricature but instead infuses his portrayals with flamboyant color and muscular creativity. He’s an American Shakespearean actor capable of holding his own against the best from Britain, blending mellifluous diction with a powerful stage presence. Page earned a Tony nomination for his performance as Hades in the musical “Hadestown,” where his deep voice resonated with a darkly compelling malevolence akin to Leonard Cohen’s. He’s also known for his Broadway roles as the Grinch and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.”
However, Shakespeare remains a central touchstone for Page, a dedication evident in his triumphant 2023 performance as King Lear in a production staged by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., directed by Simon Godwin. The producers thoughtfully streamed the production worldwide,allowing a broader audience to witness what many described as a thunderous interpretation of the role.
The Intimacy of Evil
Godwin, the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company and an associate director of the National Theatre in London, creates a remarkably intimate staging for “All the Devils Are Here.” The production’s simplicity allows Page to fluidly transition between discussing the characters and embodying them, shifting his posture and vocal tone with subtle precision. This proximity is intentional.
Shakespeare’s villains, with a few exceptions, are fundamentally human, driven by desires and fears we all recognize. While we may not commit atrocities, Page suggests, we all harbor occasional “raving lunacies” and buried feelings.
What did Shakespeare truly contribute to the archetype of the villain? Page proposes that Shakespeare didn’t invent villainy itself, but rather revolutionized its depiction. Initially, Shakespeare followed existing models, portraying villains as outsiders – Jews (like Barabas in Christopher Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta”), Moors (such as Aaron the Moor in “Titus Andronicus”), or the physically deformed (most notably, richard, Duke of Gloucester, later the subject of “Richard III”).
These early Shakespearean villains, Page explains, were frequently enough Machiavellian figures lacking the moral qualms that would later plague characters like Hamlet. They were direct, ironic, and even seductive in their cynical worldview. Their entertainment value, Page notes, rivals that of even mo
