It’s
hard for a father to watch an apparently wayward son find his way in life, and
that parental angst forms the personal core of the “history play” Henry IV, Part One.
That
is the problem King Henry faces as he muses on his son, the wastrel “Prince
Hal.” Hal spends his time drinking with the dissolute Sir John Falstaff and
thinking up pranks to play. His dad wishes he were more like the son of his
rival Thomas Percy (Ross Rhodes), the hot-blooded, laser-focused young “Hotspur.”
HIVPI is a long play loaded with
all kinds of political details, but as usual the talented Ohio Shakespeare
Festival company manages to sort it all out.
As
the two sons, Andrew Cruse and Joe Pine draw clear distinctions, as Hal and Hotspur.
Each is intense in his own way and yet oh so different, and both display a
clarity of diction that is immensely satisfying. Cruse is aided by an energetic
Geoff Knox as Hal’s wingman (okay, gentleman-in-waiting) Poins, and Pine finds
succor in the arms of his wife Lady Percy (Tess Burgler in a small but
impactful turn).
In
the title role David McNees frets nobly, and convincingly shows this man’s
political acumen and his vulnerable personal side. Also, Derrick Winger is
appropriately full of himself as the gasbag Owen Glendower.
Once
the fighting starts, Ryan Zarecki stars in two roles: as the
Likes-To-Fight–Guy, the Scottish Earl of Douglas, and as the fight director.
These aren’t the tippy-tappy fight scenes you’re used to, as the actors often seem
to swing for the fences with their axes and such.
In
the highlight role of Falstaff, director Terry Burgler offers a mostly
comfortable version of this boozy whore hound. It’s an audience pleaser, but
his interpretation doesn’t delve very deeply into Falstaff’s clear and present
contradictions. Still, Burgler is amusing in a fat suit that seems lifted from
Martin Short’s intrepid celebrity interviewer, Jiminy Glick.
As
for the introductory greenshow, a long send-up of Cymbeline as done by the Disney Studios has its moments, but overall
the concept seems funnier than the execution. This observer missed the shorter
pieces, with one usually tweaking a selected Shakespearean trope. Still, the
greenshow—directed by Tess Burgler with Jason Leupold as music director—is not
to be missed. It starts a half hour before the main event. “Huzzah!”
Henry
IV, Part One
Through
August 17, produced by the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Stan Hywet Hall &
Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron,
330-673-8761.
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