Submitted by ROY C. DICKS — Correspondent
PlayMakers Repertory Company has been demonstrating its estimable resources (and chutzpah) recently with annual two-part productions. This season, it's "The Making of a King," a doubleheader combining Shakespeare's history plays that track Henry V to England's throne. This ambitious project offers welcome rewards, but uneven casting and some odd costuming temper its success.
"Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2" follow that king's attempts to subdue rebel forces. His ne'er-do-well son Hal resists helping at first, but escalating civil war pulls him in. "Henry V" focuses on Hal as the new king after his father's death. In a war with France over disputed lands, Hal's force of character pushes his troops to victory.
Co-directors Joseph Haj and Mike Donahue cut the two Henry IV plays into one, alternating it with "Henry V," an admirable way to present the full story within a single concept. Audiences would do well, however, to get familiar with the plot because of the bewildering flurry of place names and characters.
Shawn Fagan makes an impressive transition from Hal to Henry, youthful cockiness and wit giving over to solid power as warrior and moving empathy as king. He displays a fine flair for comedy in the wooing of French princess Katherine (a suitably disdainful Kelsey Didion). But top honors go to Michael Winters, whose scruffy Falstaff buoys the entire Henry IV combo. He is less a calculating manipulator than a lovable bumbler, but his sections more than make up for the uninvolving court and rebel camp scenes. Cleverly, Winters also appears in "Henry V" as the narrator.
Other multiple roles are taken with varying success. Jeffrey Blair Cornell makes a bland Henry IV, but delights as Falstaff crony Pistol and fastidious French King Charles. Cody Nickell's Hotspur is all one-note shouting, but his Welsh army captain, Fluellen, is nuanced and amusing. A number of minor characters are played by actors unskilled in Shakespearean delivery, but Tania Chelnov stands out for her beautifully differentiated roles as Katherine's servant Alice and the tavern serving boy Davy.
Jan Chambers' unit set echoes The Globe, atmospherically lighted by Jennifer Tipton. Composer Mark Lewis adds palpable ambience, but Jennifer Caprio's costumes, combining modern and period elements, often distract, especially the king's awkward cape.
Still, the chance to see these Shakespearean history plays all together is recommendation enough, along with several notable character portrayals.
