The Oregon Shakespeare Festival begins its 1999 production of Henry IV, Part Two, by re-creating the curtain call scene of last year's Henry IV, Part One. The play ends with a speech from Henry V, scheduled for the 2000 season. The theme of the production is transition; from the past, from decay and disease of a nation and people, toward a new future of purpose, victory and renewal -- for some.
Dan Donohue returns as Prince Hal, a role he began last year. Now in his fourth season with the festival, Donohue is a luminous talent. He has taken Hal from one of Sir John Falstaff's merry pranksters to a king determined to rule, breaking old ties and turning away from old corruptions. Playing the rusted knight, Falstaff, is Ken Albers, who also marks four Ashland seasons, as actor and director. Falstaff himself is in transition, from white-haired child to a realization that he is an old man, corpulent and diseased. His ebullience becomes a thinner veneer over his waning life. Although Falstaff is a rogue, libertine and braggart, Albers plays him in such a way that we feel sympathy for him when King Henry V, Falstaff's former, princely "lambkin Hal, renounces and banishes the old man.
For this staging, director Libby Appel has gone back to the Shakespearean tradition of having all roles played by males. There is also considerable doubling, with about 50 roles played by 15 men. Some of this works, and some doesn't. G. Valmont Thomas, as Mistress Quickly, does less homage to the tradition of Shakespeare than to Flip Wilson in drag. David Kelly fares somewhat better as Doll Tearsheet. The play includes much comedy, some of it playing like burlesque, with one-liner jokes accented by rim shots and stingers from onstage drums. While the two musicians, on the inner above stage (Jason Esquerra and Jeff A. Pierce), are worthy of the era of Gene Krupa, the drums are overused.
Outstanding as Henry IV is Ned Schmidtke, who also played the role last year. His delivery and elocution are delights to hear, and both of his major scenes deserve applause. The latter is a death scene, played opposite his son, Hal. Henry IV died in 1413, and Hal became king. Schmidtke also plays Bullcalf and Gower. Donohue is also seen as Wart and Fang. Richard Farrell, as the Lord Chief Justice, plays a strong scene as he reasons with Henry V. Michael Elich uses the dual casting of Bardolph, a crony of Falstaff's, and the Earl of Northumberland, to display two sides of his considerable talent. Playing another of Falstaff's henchmen, Poins, Kevin Kenerly scores additional points as Prince Thomas of Clarence, another son of Henry IV. Also gaining from the double casting is J.P. Phillips, as the Archbishop of York, and as Feeble, one of several recruits called up for the king's army.
Again in this play, as in Much Ado About Nothing, which opened the season the night before, comic relief follows the intermission, with the appearance of Master Shallow, and Silence, played by John Pribyl (last year's Falstaff) and Robert Vincent Frank. Although the role is barely more than caricature, Pribyl's Shallow gives some dimension to Falstaff by recalling the knight's younger life, before corruption set in. Last year's Henry IV, Part One, was staged in modern dress, consistently and successfully.
This production begins in modern costume, then mixes it with period styles. The inconsistency doesn't grate as much as it could. Some productions of Henry IV, Part Two, including some in earlier years at the festival, end on the downside, with the renunciation of Falstaff by Henry V. In the spirit of continuity, Appel's interpretation carries the story forward, into what amounts to a preview of Henry V, with the king's "Band of brothers..." speech, which precedes victorious battle in France, an up ending. The two Henry IV plays could set up an auspicious trilogy for the festival if Henry V fulfills its potential next year, and, especially, if Donohue continues in the role of the king. (There is precedent for this, with Marco Barricelli having performed in all three in 1988, '89 and '90.)
