O! Henry

Splendor in the Park

by Bill Rodriguez

With all the complexity and intrigue of a soap opera and the adolescent fascination of a World War II action flick, Henry IV, Part I was the Elizabethan equivalent of a summer blockbuster. Nowadays you need to be an Elizabethan buff or Vegas memory act to keep track of the organizational chart of all its alliances and back-story enmities. But Colonial Theatre's lively Shakespeare-In-the-Park production in Westerly conveys the dynamics spiritedly, without making it all feel like a history lesson.

Not to mention that we get a good Falstaff, the most popular comic rascal that Shakespeare ever invented.

In Shakespeare's day, even the minimally educated groundlings jammed against the stage knew the outlines of the power struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster a century before. Henry IV (Tim Gregory) had invaded England from exile and wrested the throne from cousin Richard II immediately before the play begins. Henry Percy (John Mahon), the Earl of Northumberland, had greater claim to the throne, so his loyalty was understandably suspected. His son, also Henry Percy -- I told you we need a chart -- but called Hotspur (David Anthony Smith) has angered the king by refusing to hand over his prisoners until the king pays the ransom for Edmund Mortimer (Drew Staniland), who was captured by the Welsh chieftain Owen Glendower (Mahon, again). Got that? Off-stage Mortimer marries Glendower's daughter and the Percys ally to divide England among the three parties. As in all of Shakespeare's chronicles, a big battle draws the story to a close, and in this case sets things up for Henry IV, Part II.

And all that doesn't even introduce Henry the younger, the Prince of Wales, known as Hal (Jay Stratton), who is destined to become Henry V. Since the Bard has future plans for him, for most of the play Hal takes a passive role, showing us a dissolute youth who will do an about-face in the last act, swearing seriousness of purpose to his father. In fact, Hal's main job here is to play straight man to the boozy, barrel-shaped, garrulous Falstaff.

Joel Kramer gives us a wily Sir John Falstaff rather than just a jocular one. Closer to John Housman than to Zero Mostel. Intelligence behind the eyes and restraint in the exaggerations. With his gang of tavern ruffians, Falstaff swipes a purse on the highway and is robbed of it right afterward by Hal, unidentifiable in the dark. As expected, Falstaff claims to have been attacked by a throng of 50 that he valiantly fought off, going so far as to hack at his sword to claim proof. He professes bravery but in a monologue he brags to himself about his cowardice. Honor is as intangible as air, he says: "Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No." The sack-swilling knight says that since Adam fell in the age of innocence, he can't be expected to stay upright "in the days of villainy." Audiences looked forward to Falstaff in part II, and Queen Elizabeth was so beguiled by him that, historians say, The Merry Wives of Windsor resulted because she wanted to see the scamp in love.

But the fallible Sir John has a rival in vividness. Hotspur is as extreme in his temper as Falstaff is in cowardliness, and as portrayed here is layered and fascinating to behold. Like a slow-motion explosion on film, Smith puts every little mini-emotion on display for us, each twitch and suppression and re-ignition. As written, Hotspur's anger is almost always on, but Smith -- who was similarly energized last year in the Wilcox Park The Taming of the Shrew -- makes rage interesting to watch by shaping its ebb and flow. One scene was particularly difficult to rescue from tediousness, when Hotspur is so angry that his father and uncle can't get words in edgewise, but Smith and director Harland Meltzer make a long-winded stretch good fun.

Also strongly shaping the feel of the play is Tim Gregory's take on King Henry, who commands the stage with alert attention and understanding rather than arrogance. Mahon, a Colonial Theatre regular, gives us an assertive Glendower, the Welsh conspirator, through a heavy accent -- although I wouldn't know an authentic Welsh accent from a hiccup. Another character I wish had another scene is Kristin Sentman's Lady Percy; Hotspur's wife doesn't want him to go off into danger, and her spunky defiance is a convincing match for his assertiveness (wisely, Smith plays this exchange gently).

It's the last weekend to catch the annual Shakespeare-in-the-Park production. This one has a lot going for it.