Gone are the days of patronage or angels in the arts. The Fringe is a cauldron of competition for audiences and money. Simple enough: ask anyone in the arts. We don't do it for the money, but we cannot do it without the money.
Such is the dilemma of theatre producer Ms. Branch (Kate Levy) and dot-com billionaire Grant (Brian Dykstra), who approach playwright Janet (Kate Siahaan-Rigg) with the unique task of translating Shakespeare into English. What Grant means is the English easily understood by and accessible to everyone. Not a new concept, as a few of the successful adaptations are cited.
We are told that Polishing Shakespeare is based on a true story. In the creative hands of playwrights Brian Dykstra and Margarett Perry, it becomes so much more than the relationship of money and art. Written in verse which uses metre and rhyme and an almost saccharine amount of alliteration, it is, initially, a little jarring. But it emphasises the point that is being made here on accessible language. Shakespeare is more than the man but is now a language unto itself. But not that far away from English; if you rewrite Shakespeare, is it still Shakespeare?
This very funny, straightforward, almost simplistic situation evolves (spoiler alert) into a meditation much more profound on art in society.
Kate Levy, Brian Dykstra and Kate Siahaan-Rigg know the language excellently well. It feels very much like a tennis match between the three players. We have money on one side and art on the other and producer as a net between. These three actors play very well together. We are led along by this ever-changing power struggle.
The staging is minimal. The direction is fluid and never extraneous. The actors skilled. We are schooled.