By LOU HARRY, Special to Theatrecriticism.com
Yes, “Henry IV” is the complete title.
Sans the “part 1” and “part 2” that traditionally complete the title of William Shakespeare’s historical take, this adaptation fuses the two plays into a three-act, approximately four-hour one-nighter. At Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, the result is a crisp, clear, ultimately moving production of one – okay, two – of the Bard’s less-often produced work.
It proved quite the opposite of my most recent visit to this tale. That was as part of the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis one-day Bard marathon ,where the IV plays were tightened to a point where their weight was lost. There, they felt like caulking between the far better-paced Richard II and Henry V.
But the “IVs” have perhaps Shakespeare’s greatest combination of humor, tragedy, and transcendent characters, something clear in the production at Brooklyn’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center. There, attention is paid where it should be – to the three compelling core characters engaged in matters both political and deeply personal.
There’s the titular self-doubting King (played by the play’s adaptor, Dakin Matthews) who has to keep his game face on while desperately trying to reign in his son and deal with an uprising. There’s Falstaff, a barrel of life and larceny played with glorious complexity, warmth, wit and an oddly affecting melancholy by Jay O. Sanders as a man without responsibility but fighting valiantly to stave off acknowledging his decline.
And between them is Prince Hal who, as portrayed by Elijah Jones, makes clear the contradictory pulls of court and carousing. Offering different versions of himself when with his pals and with his Pop, you can see his conflict in the way his gait and cadence shift with his environment. Rather than coming across as inconsistently acted, Jones leaves no doubt that they are aspects of the same person – someone who must, eventually, give up a part of himself. The ending of the play – for me the most powerful climax of any of the history plays I’ve seen – is often noted as a tragedy for Falstaff. Here, it’s also a tragedy for Hal.
The trio of core performers is ably abetted by a substantial company doing a fair amount of doubling and tripling, with minimal costume shifts sometimes happening on stage. In an intimate space with the audience surrounding the action, director Eric Tucker’s production briskly moves from battlefield to barroom and beyond, without need for spectacle. As such, there’s less emphasis on military machinations and more on interpersonal drama.
With seats this close, of course, there’s a risk of losing out on some powerful moments. I’m glad my vantage point allowed me to see clearly the final moments with Falstaff and Hal’s reaction when browbeaten for prematurely doffing his father’s crown. Others may be frustrated by what they can’t quite see.
This decidedly isn’t a production for those craving a fresh take on Shakespeare. Director Tucker doesn’t seem out to say anything new – he, the designers, and the cast seem more focused on honoring the story, the characters and the language, anchoring it all in the play’s humanity.
With that focus, they’ve brought to life the multiple heartbreaks inherent in the work.
Henry IV by William Shakespeare (4 hours with two intermissions) – adapted and starring Dakin Matthews – continues at Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place in Brooklyn, NY, through March 2. For tickets click here.
