All Is True, or Henry VIII

Reviewed by Steven Leigh Morris
Porters of Hellsgate
Through Dec. 5

RECOMMENDED

Confession: In all my years of reviewing theater, this is the first production I’ve ever seen of Shakespeare’s Henry VIII originally titled All is True, co-written (somebody thinks, who knows?) with Shakespeare’s peer, John Fletcher. It’s the last history play penned or co-penned by the Bard, and it’s a bit of a mess, structurally, which is likely the reason it’s staged so rarely.

The play contrasts reckless and relentless ambition with the brand of conscience that embodies compassion. In this it echoes the same themes lodged within Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Richard III, Henry V and As You Like It.

Porters of Hellsgate stages the play in a modern dress, remedial yet powerful fashion in one of the small theaters of the Whitmore Lindley Theatre Center in North Hollywood. Director Will Block’s set contains white silky drapes hanging from the sky around a single throne.

I admit to a certain trepidation about risking the time on a three-hour production of a little-known Elizabethan history play, particularly if, say, the actors don’t know their way around the challenging language or the style.

The prologue is delivered by Brittany Pirozzoli (who also plays the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer). After hearing her first lines, and watching her comportment, my anxiety subsided a bit with the underlying faith that, maybe, just maybe, these people know what they are doing.  

For the full review, see Theater Feature

Porters of Hellsgate at the Whitmore Lindley Theatre Center, 11006 Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood; in rep; through Dec. 5. https://brownpapertickets.com/event/5587541, Running time three hours with one intermission