Somethings Rotten in the Renaissance

Under the lights, a precisely crafted set and a confident cast painted the perfect picture for the opening night of Blair’s 2025 spring play, “Something Rotten.” From crowd laughs to beautiful tap dancing, the Blazers' adaptation of Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell’s original work had it all, leaving viewers satisfied.

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Photo: Jaime Lozada McBride enthusiastically portraying his role as Shakespeare

Jaime Lozada McBride enthusiastically portraying his role as Shakespeare Photo courtesy of Thea Womack.

The play opened with a solo performance of “Welcome to the Renaissance,” which quickly transformed into a vibrant collective dance, with background dancers keeping the audience engaged. At first glance, however, the most visually striking aspect of the opening was the set: a loud, crowded, dirty street in Renaissance England, depicting the Shakespeare era. Later, as the plot developed, the pit orchestra was the most prevalent aspect accompanying the actors, tasked with maintaining a strong and dynamic atmosphere throughout the performance.

After this strong opening, the plot began to sync with the audience. The production nailed the precedent by highlighting what made the Renaissance period so extravagant and boastful: its writers. Once that was established, the story of Nick Bottom (Navek Leonard/Ben Kirby) became much more valuable. Bottom, an aspiring playwright, struggles with the fame and presence of William Shakespeare (Jaime Lozada McBride/Aurelia Smith). Financially unstable and personally unfulfilled, Bottom begins to loathe, and envy, Shakespeare and his monopolization over writing. Senior Navek Leonard showed his range by capturing multiple emotions in one character. Bottom is, at face value, a sad and pitiful character. But the writing and character portrayal turned him into someone humorous and captivating, garnering applause after every scene.

Later in the play, Bottom, filled with sorrow and hatred, looks for an easy way out. He finds an eccentric but money-hungry teller, Nostradamus (Siri Laney/Malaika Wande), who can see into the future. This becomes the center of his greed through the corruption and theft of a future hit play. During Friday’s performance, [grade level] Siri Laney concentrated on her character’s personality traits exceptionally well, making for a charismatic and crowd-rallying scene.

Meanwhile, the concept of Shakespeare is established as a powerful, towering figure. Everyone is infatuated with and respects him—a stark contrast to Bottom. However, in the reality of the play, Shakespeare is braggadocious, arrogant, and flashy to the masses, but inwardly, he is shown to parade within his realm of writing, unsure of his next step. Junior Jaime Lozada McBride is entrusted with solo performances and dialogue scenes. Shakespeare’s character can be perceived as oversaturated and dull. However, McBride rejuvenates the infamous figure through his cadence, offering a fresh take on the persona.

Consequently, Nick’s materialistic choices warrant disappointment and anger from his companions. Nick’s desperation to outshine Shakespeare jeopardizes his future. This drags down those closest to him, including his brother Nigel (Ari Joshi/Hadar Ernst) and his wife Bea (Greta Andelman/Elena Hundertmark). However, the nuance of this character gains sympathy from the audience: a pregnant wife and financial trouble serve as justification for his actions, enabling sentiments of redemption for the character.

A subtle but crucial detail that pieced the performance together was the costume design. Fitting its luxurious set, the design was representative of the Renaissance era. Small touches like this and attention to detail had a much larger impact on immersing the audience and capturing them into a world of the Renaissance. To that extent, director and costume orchestrator Kelly O’Connor deserves all praise.

With the work of the Blair Theatre and the joyful crowd, the experience of watching this year's spring play was nothing short of memorable. Each factor—design, directing, acting, and score—works together as a puzzle piece for the broader experience.

“Something Rotten” has five more performances. Sunday, April 27, is reserved for a relaxed theatre etiquette performance, and the May 2 performance will feature American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. All dates can be found here; tickets can be bought here.