Festival 56’s ‘Henry IV,’ the Legend of Bolingbroke

Festival 56 has its first go at Shakespeare’s history plays, with Eric Wegener’s adaptation of “Henry IV” (from the two parts in Shakespeare’s original, plus additions from Richard II). “Henry IV” is probably best known for the character of Sir John Falstaff, the fat and bawdy knight who encourages young Prince Hal in gadding about the inns and seedier districts of London. Choosing to play outside of period, with costumes and props from a multitude of time periods, this production focuses on a more universal concept of history, specifically the choices anyone in leadership must make between the personal and the public.

The most interesting directorial choice in the production is the casting of Amy Jo Jackson as a female King Henry IV. Jackson is very comfortable in Shakespeare’s idiom, conveying both a sense of regalness and the weighty obligations of monarchy. The mother-son relationship thus created between Henry and Hal adds a new tonality to the tension between monarch and heir.

Alexander Pawlowski’s Falstaff emphasizes the fun and the bluster of the character. Pawlowski is an expert at Shakespearian invective: “If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused gurnet,” (that is, a small pickled fish). His Falstaff is definitely soused, but far from small. However, we see little beyond the bluster in Pawlawski’s characterization; his relationship with Donovan Kidd’s Prince Hal seems largely antagonistic, with little tenderness that might add poignancy to Hal’s final repudiation of Falstaff when Hal becomes Henry V. In fact, Kidd’s Hal seems largely aloof from most of his compatriots, a choice that emphasizes Hal’s interior conflict, wanting to be his father’s son (and future king) but also wanting to get as far away from that birthright as possible. Prince Hal’s one true spark of relationship seems to be with Ann Kimmel’s Poins, another cross-gender casting choice that adds some interesting sexual tension to the show.

As Hal’s nemesis Hotspur, Daniel Pancratz is a dynamic presence, emphasizing the action of his character over the poetics of the dialogue. On the opposite continuum, Gabriel Murphy, in the triple roles of the deposed king, Richard II, Bardolf, one of Falstaff’s cohorts, and especially, as the allegorical figure of Rumor, uses the beauty of the language to create three distinct and memorable voices. Other members of the cast provide excellent character roles: Carl Schneider’s very raw recruit and Falstaff’s not-terribly-interested page; Melissa Dowty’s flirtatious Mistress Quickly; Patrick Doolin’s rebel-soldier Douglas; and Scott Lilly’s wildly physical cavalier Pistol and decrepit courtier Warwick.