When planning my visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this season, I wasn't sure I wanted to see the latest offering in the so-called Henriad history play cycle. Last season's "Henry IV, Part 1" was marked by many fine performances but the direction was fairly traditional. Did I want a repeat of that experience? So I decided to rush it if tickets were still available on the day of the show. Suffice it to say that "Henry IV, Part 2" was a terrific evening of theater and perhaps the hidden treasure at Ashland this year.
The play was framed almost cinematically, like a chapter in an epic movie saga. There were "Scenes From Part 1" presented in a series of dramatically staged tableaus, accompanied by a thrilling drumbeat; a Prologue featuring a modern-day "Presenter," a trickster-like character aptly named Rumor, who sets the scene for the confusion that ran rampant after the battles in Part 1 were ended; and even a playful "Coming Attractions" sequence at evening's end. But more on that later!
The star of this show was Michael Winters as Sir John Falstaff. I can't say enough about this performance. Last season, the wonderful David Kelly played the role and even though I thought his approach was justified, it was so mired in the fat knight's disgusting manner that I didn't care or sympathize with him much. That may have been the goal, but I really want to like Sir John despite his faults. Winters, however, was simply born to play this part. He wore it like a comfortable - if rumpled - suit of clothes. A signature performance and a delight to watch!
We are supposed to feel Falstaff's pain in this play. It's all about age and remembrance. Sir John is feeling his years getting shorter, yet he proclaims to all that will listen that you are only as young as you feel ... and he feels fine, thank you very much. He is given a young page by Prince Hal, a reminder of his youth; he tarries with a young but fallen girl, Doll Tearsheet, who loves him for his alehouse bravado; and he endures the reminiscences of a dottering old schoolmate who has become a sedate and boring country squire. But he has staked his entire being on Prince Hal becoming king and carrying him to court in glory on his ale-sodden coattails. Winters plays these notes with wit, reticence, and an odd sort of grace. He moves like a man half his age. It's a kind of effortless dance -- but with gout!
But Prince Hal (John Tufts) has been evolving. He still lingers with the London tavern crowd in Eastcheap, even after his victories on the field of battle in part 1. But he has gained a certain nascent maturity. He knows the day is coming when he will have to take responsibility and succeed his father, who lies gravely ill. Tufts once again proves that he has taken the reins here at Ashland. He is a wonderful actor to watch, immersing himself in the duality that lies within the role. He even achieves something I thought I would never see. I have written before that I find the roles portrayed by the deaf actor Howie Seago, though well performed, a distraction from the play at hand. Language is what Shakespeare is all about, so why abandon it? Well, I am glad to say that at least in this case I was wrong. The scenes between Tufts and Seago's Ned Poins sparkled this time around. Their close friendship was so evident and natural that the sign language disappeared.
Also, of note, Tufts was simply brilliant in his scenes with Richard Howard as the dying Henry. Howard once again lent a wonderful quality of frailty and weariness to the role. Henry's other son John (Daisuke Tsuji) has proven himself on the field of battle in a victory against the resurgent rebels, providing the king with a stark contrast to his wayward son Hal. But in a key scene Hal, thinking his father lies dead, is torn by emotion and reveals that he indeed knows what is required of him and how much he loves his father. Howard's quiet strength in this scene is palpable.
Also of note in this cast is the veteran James Edmondson, just terrific as Justice Shallow, the dottering country squire. His comic moments with Michael J. Hume (as his cousin Silence) at the top of Act 2, when the scene shifts to the countryside, were textbook examples of how to steal a scene with style. Edmondson is my touchstone at the festival, the lone actor who was here 36 years ago when I first arrived. The pair had the audience in the palm of their hand, and Hume used a simple flyswatter to great comic effect.
Other notable cast contributions included Nell Geisslinger as a lively and sweet Doll Tearsheet; Kimberly Scott as a malleable Mistress Quickly (who gave a hilarious master class on how to make the most of the word "swaggerer"); Jack Willis as a monochromatic, no-nonsense Chief Justice who runs afoul of Falstaff and Hal, but receives a surprising offer of friendship and counsel from the new king; Rodney Gardiner, who personified different aspects of "Rumor" throughout the action of the play, all the while sporting a Rolling Stones T-shirt; and the comic talents of Brent Hinkley, Mark Bedard, Daisuke Tsuji, and Eddie Lopez, who made the ensemble scenes shine.
At the end, the stark magnificence of the set came into play, with a huge staircase lumbering forward for the coronation of Henry V, strewn with an explosion of golden streamers. It provides quite a majestic backdrop for Hal's denial of Falstaff. But the end also reveals a weakness of the play for modern audiences. Its final scene portends the coming war with France. The director Lisa Peterson solves this in a unique and irresistibly fun way. She brings the cast back on stage and Falstaff provides an epilogue in which the company gives a preview of what awaits the audience in the "next chapter." They present snippets of thrilling dialogue and the news that Falstaff meets his end. But he is still here for now, so he is going to dance while he can. He does so, and his nimble country jig turns into a thumping rave beat that consumes the whole company, with Hal holding his crown aloft in celebration as a sea of hands strive to touch it!
Wow! I can't wait for the next episode!!
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