As the prince himself put it, "Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere."
Shakespeare on the Green's latest production of "Henry IV," directed by Aaron Cutler '08, offers a unique adaptation that documents a king's path to power and the price of ambition.
William Shakespeare's sequence of "Richard II," "Henry IV" and "Henry V" highlights a trying time in English history, as violence unseated kings before inheritance could. Henry IV (Andrew Fox '06) is perched uneasily on the throne as northern lord Hotspur (Bentley Rubinstein '09), known for his exploits in battle, pledges his support to another would-be king.
To the king's frustration, his son Prince Hal (Doug Benedicto '08) seems more preoccupied with drinking sack and robbing monks than ruling. Yet, as is revealed early to the audience, this is a prince on the make. But as Hal plans to change his ways and create a royal splash by challenging Hotspur for the throne, he must also question who his true friends are.
This "Henry," adapted by Cutler and Michael Ennis '08 from the 1965 Orson Welles film "Chimes at Midnight," de-emphasizes the titular king in favor of the dissolute prince's friendship, and eventual falling-out, with drunken lout Sir John Falstaff. For this reason, audience members already familiar with story of "Henry IV" were at a certain advantage, especially in the first half-hour. Falstaff is "in vino veritas" personified, but he has fallen from the king's good graces and is not above lying or cheating in the midst of a belly laugh.
Clad in a grotesque fat suit, Austin Campion '06.5 as Falstaff looms large over Benedicto's Hal, but he puts his bulk to great effect without resorting to endless pratfalls. Campion, fresh from his turn as the tense, humorless Malvolio in Production Workshop's "Twelfth Night," displays an admirable restraint in his Falstaff, opting to develop his character through nuances instead of broad strokes.
Bright-lit tavern scenes punctuated by the laments of its owner, Mistress Quickly (Lizzie Vieh '07), break up the more somber sequences of palace intrigue. Similarly, a mid-play battle (from the end of "Henry IV Part 1") - while more "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" than "The Princess Bride" in staging - keeps the audience attentive and guessing.
The adaption from Cutler and Ennis gives us these bawds and rowdies but doesn't let the audience forget what's at stake. In the darker second half, Hal is just like any other son, wanting to outdo his father on the battlefield - but terrified of what will happen if he does. Hal steels himself for battle in terse monologues that show he won't be what his father calls "a skipping king." Cutler, realizing the emotional power of these scenes, shrewdly places Benedicto at the foot of the audience, his face half-shadowed, so even his quieter words reverberate through the space.
Cutler's cross-casting hardly distracts from the play's 15th-century setting, except for one steamy interlude involving Prince Hal and his right-hand "man" Poins (Rachel Caris '08). Although the show makes the most of the wedge-shaped green where it is performed, the quasi-in-the-round staging is somewhat less successful, with audiences craning their necks for some of the play's most important moments. Yet even with the customary outdoor obstacles of weather and noise, "Henry IV" manages to provide a fresh reading of the classic history by focusing in on what a young prince must do to claim his throne.
