“‘Tis time to fear,” Pericles observes on Navy Pier, “when tyrants seem to kiss.” The likable Prince of Tyre, hero of the William Shakespeare play of the same name, has a specific tyrant in mind, one thrusting Pericles into life’s maelstrom and hoping it will toss and buffet him on its stormy seas. But that’s also fine advice for U.S. voters a week out from a pivotal election that we hope won’t do the same to us. But neither Pericles nor “Pericles,” which you can currently see in Chicago in a gorgeous, not-to-be-missed production from the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company, leave it there. Try this one for life advice, dear reader. It’s pretty darn good. You could tape it on your bathroom mirror: “For death remembered should be like a mirror Who tells us life’s but breath, to trust it error.” That’s the thing about Shakespeare’s late, or last plays, or romances, or whatever the scholars call them. “The Winter’s Tale,” “The Tempest,” “Cymbeline” and, yes, “Pericles” (now widely assumed to be a collaboration with a forgotten man named George Wilkins) are the work of a mature artist, one who has seen success and failure, one who has had some time to learn what actually is important and what always falls by the wayside. A great case can be made that Shakespeare’s singular reputation over, say, playwright Christopher Marlowe is mostly a consequence of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon having the great good fortune to live longer and thus gain a richer perspective on love, power and mortality. Kid writers can be explosive, sure, but the ones with some tread on their tires know more about life. Watching “Pericles” Friday night in a rapt crowd of fellow Chicagoans, all clearly delighted that the RSC has come back in town for the first time in some 30 years, I was struck by how even though “Pericles” shows us power being wielded in a wide variety of ways as Pericles wanders around Greek kingdoms ruled in different ways, it really has two main themes. One is that we must learn what really is important, and family always has been the best place to start, even if that is where most of us only finish. The other is that critical thinking is a crucial skill, ideally practiced on your feet. I’ll stop with the quotations, but what about this one? “Who makes the fairest show means most deceit.” Often, they do. Choose wisely. Director Tamara Harvey, the new co-artistic director of the RSC, takes advantage of a big plus of doing “Pericles” over, say, “Hamlet” or “The Merchant of Venice.” Most audiences don’t know the play at all (although Chicago Shakespeare produced it in 2014). Assuming you pay full attention to the clarity of the storytelling — and trust me, Harvey and her British actors pay full attention to the clarity of the storytelling — you can actually surprise them with plot revelations. So it went at the “Pericles” opening, where the late-in-the-play revelations attracted gasps of amazement and, being as they are mostly joyous, plenty of moist eyes in the house as those who were lost are found. People go to the theater hoping to be told that death is not final, I’ve always thought, and that’s what “Pericles” has to say. Whatever the seeming limits of mortality. Harvey’s production now features the empathetic Zach Wyatt in the title role, just demonstrative enough to fill princely shoes, just enough of a cypher for others. But that cast change is the only significant deviation from the company that premiered this show in Stratford-upon-Avon this past summer and features Rachelle Diedericks as Marina (whom Harvey has turned into the narrator of a play that’s always upfront about being a play), Leah Haile as Thaisa, and the delightfully funny Christian Patterson as the play’s most lovable ruler, Simonides. The cast of "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Rachelle Diedericks as Marina in "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Jacqueline Boatswain as Cerimon and the cast of "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)The cast of "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Felix Hayes as Antiochus and Chyna-Rose Frederick as Antiochus’ Daughter in "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Zach Wyatt plays the title role in "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Show Caption1 of 6The cast of "Pericles" by the visiting Royal Shakespeare Company in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Johan Persson)Expand To offer a Chicago referent, Harvey and her set designer, Jonathan Fensom, approach “Pericles” with a similar aesthetic to our own Mary Zimmerman’s many fine forays into antiquity: with ropes, pulleys, little lights as stars, an ancient patina of costumes and setting, but never a design concept that impedes direct actor-to-audience communication.  The show makes extensive use of an original score from Claire van Kampen played by live musicians, quite beautifully but never obtrusively, as well as movement from Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster that smartens up its dumbshows and tableaux. But its signature is its warmth and the intensity of the direct delivery of the play’s wisdom to a contemporary audience. A perennial challenge of “Pericles” is that the name on the marquee disappears for a good chunk of the last half of the play while his lost daughter, Marina, finds herself the victim (although not for too long) of what we now would call sex trafficking in Mytilene. I think Harvey wanted to challenge herself, and her audiences, by not shying away from all those scenes, which she carefully tones. Still, I’m not sure they’re all needed at this length, frankly, although this production certainly comes roaring back as we approach the emotionally potent denouement. But that’s hardly any kind of substantial criticism. “Pericles” is as moving and enveloping a Shakespearean production as I’ve seen all these years in CST’s Courtyard Theatre, a space ideally designed and utilized here for what Harvey and these actors want to achieve. Clearly, one aim of a show mostly created by women was to give Marina more agency by reassigning the narrative duties to her and that works beautifully, not least because it extends the emotional landscape of the drama into its very bones. Few theaters have a history of understanding the body of one writer like the RSC, of course. How great for us that this company is forging a new relationship with Chicago. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. [email protected] Review: “Pericles” (4 stars) When: Through  Dec. 7 Where: Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave. Running time: 3 hours Tickets: $66-$120 at 312-595-5600 and www.chicagoshakes.com