HENRY IV PART I (Shake-Scene Theatre Company)*****

  

By Louise

Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare

Available until: Unknown

I find the history plays quite difficult so even though I knew Shake-Scene would do a brilliant performance of this play, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to appreciate it as much as it deserved. But this really is a great production with so many fun moments and it’s very easy to follow.

There were a few casting issues this week with Geraldine Brennan and Eugenia Low (who was absolutely outstanding as Richard II) taking over roles at short notice and book holder Lizzie Hughes having to swing in when Abey Bradbury’s internet failed. It’s always sad when things like this happen and it must be really disappointing for the performers, even though sometimes real life has to come first. But there is also something really special about seeing people covering for each other and doing everything they can to make sure the performance is still brilliant, but also caring about the people who aren’t there. Even when they can’t be there, I really feel like Shake-Scene is more than just that month’s cast. They’re all part of the same team.

Some of the actors were returning to the roles they played in Richard II and it is really nice to have that continuity. Others were playing different roles so it’s like they’re still part of the tetralogy. Alexandra Kataigida’s character Henry Bolingbroke is now Henry IV and she is really magnificent in the role. She plays the role slightly differently which makes it seems like Henry is a bit more mature and a bit more worn down by the stresses of being King, but he still has the same intelligence and authority. He is really commanding, but he is also a real human being with emotions. There’s a big scene where he tells his son Hal off and you can see how difficult it is for Henry.

Another character who returns and plays a very major role is Henry’s nemesis Hotspur, who is played by Aryn Mello Pryor. Hotspur is really well-characterised, he’s very determined and there’s something quite steely about him which makes him a very worthy adversary for the King and his son Prince Hal.

Alec Bennie is making his Zoom debut as Hal, but he’s very comfortable with Zoom and his Hal is really lovely and fun. He’s a bit irresponsible, but he does seem to have a good heart and it’s understandable that he wants to have fun. I also really like that he’s not at all prejudiced and spends time with people he likes, even though they’re not part of his class. He is so lucky nobody had mobile phones when he was alive because I’m sure a lot of his antics would have been filmed and gone viral and then his dad would be even less happy.

One of Hal’s friends is one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, Sir John Falstaff. There are a few different theories about who this character is based on. He was originally called Sir John Oldcastle and the name came from an anonymous play called The Famous Victories of Henry V. A descendant of the real Sir John Oldcastle objected to the character’s name in Shakespeare’s play, but maybe he didn’t know about the other play. There was also a real man called Sir John Fastolf, but he seems like a different sort of person, he was around later, when Henry VI was King and he does actually appear in Henry VI Part I. A new theory is that Falstaff is based on a writer called Robert Greene who was around at the same time as Shakespeare and behaved a lot like Falstaff. I don’t think he and Shakespeare liked each other very much.

Whoever he is based on, Matt Williams is brilliant as Falstaff. He has made himself the perfect costume and he’s hilarious. He’s a lot of fun but maybe slightly annoying sometimes (not to me, just to the other characters) so you can see why everyone likes him but also why they play tricks on him sometimes. He and Geraldine Brennan’s Hostess are especially great together.

There is also some Welsh in this play! Shakespeare just writes ‘speaks in Welsh’ and usually, if there is any Welsh, there’s not very much of it, but this production had two Welsh speakers, Dewi Hughes as a dangerous Glendower and Ayesha Stanley in her Shake-Scene debut as lovely Lady Mortimer. They are both really good at their roles and I understood some of the Welsh, which made me happy. But one interesting thing about Ayesha Stanley is that even though she has made her Shake-Scene debut, she still hasn’t said a single word that was written by Shakespeare! But she is brilliant and she has the most beautiful singing voice too.

There are lots of other great performances. Fergus Rattigan does a really brilliant voice as Bardolfe, Joaquim Pedro Valdes makes a really powerful impression as Vernon and I was quite disappointed when he exited. I hope he’ll play bigger roles in the future. Tamara Ritthaler is lots of fun as Poinz, Claire Richardson is funny as Chamberlain (and I love her costume), Tim Klotz’s Scottish accent as Dowglas is really enjoyable, and Eugenia Low, who is great in all her roles, is especially memorable as Mortimer. But everyone is great. Shakespeare has written such a big range of characters and they are all performed really well.

My little sister Lottie didn’t watch the play because she is only six, but she loved the butterflies on Lizzie Hughes’ wall and she said I should give the play five stars. I am giving the play five stars, but not because of the butterflies. It deserves five stars because it’s wonderful.