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Henry IV, Part 1
Reviewed by Neal Weaver
The Anteaus Company
Through May 3
RECOMMENDED:
Shakespeare could wield a neat dialectic as deftly as Bertolt Brecht, though he didn’t talk about it as much. In almost every play, the Bard shaped his plots to depict forces eternally at odds. Here, he ranges Prince Hal (Ramon de Ocampo) and Hotspur (Joe Holt), believers in the chivalric code, and single combat upon the Field of Honor, against the scoundrel Falstaff (Gregory Itzin) who debunks their high-minded words, and believes in nothing but his own safety and appetites: In his famous speech on the nature of honor, he brings down the whole edifice of reputation, glory, and fame. “What is honor? A word…Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday.”
Director Michael Murray has neatly edited the play so it can be played effectively by 12 actors without serious damage to the text, and he has set the play in modern times and modern dress. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, but dressing King Henry (James Sutorius) and the rebel barons in business suits makes them seem more like ad execs conniving for supremacy in the Board Room than warriors ready to kill or wage war in order to prevail. And Prince Hal and Falstaff’s followers sometimes seem a bit too much like the Boys in the Hood. Things get better in the later scenes, when the wars begin and all wear military uniforms.
Staging the play on a bare wooden platform, with minimal props, approximates Elizabethan production styles, and makes for a fluid and fast-moving show. The actors play their roles with passion and verve on Francois-Pierre Couture’s simple but handsome set, Peter Bayne’s stirring original music utilizes percussion to heighten the tension in the battle scenes, and Ken Merckx’s fight choreography generates plenty of excitement.
Itzin gives us a different sort of Falstaff. Such actors as Stacy Keach and Ralph Richardson have played the Fat Knight as hale, hearty and robust cowards who run from their fights. Itzin, in his capacious fat suit, appears to be dropsical as well as fat: He couldn’t fight much if he tried, but that doesn’t temper his braggadocio, and he makes the role work on his terms.
De Ocampo’s Prince Hal is stalwart and determined, but willing to hide his light under a bushel till the moment is right. Holt’s Hotspur lives up to his name, angry, ever ready to proclaim his own merits or to take offense and wage war over a trifle if his honor is piqued. His war of words with the equally self-glorifying Glendower (Joe Hulser) is one of the comic highlights. They receive top-notch support from Marcelo Tuber, Jason Turner, Tony Amendola, Adam J. Smith, Tro Shaw, Elizabeth Dennehy and Desiree Mee Jung, all playing multiple roles.
NOTE: This production, like all Antaeus’ shows, is double-cast. This cast, called the Rogues, alternates with the Knaves. Check the theater for schedules.
The Anteaus Company, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hlwyd.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (818) 506-1983, www.antaeus.org.
