"Henry IV, Part One," A Noise Within, Glendale, CA
Directed by Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott for A Noise Within, Henry IV, Part One, makes Shakespeare’s historical saga not only fresh and lively but also contemporary and relevant.
Who doesn’t relate to father/King Henry IV’s (Robertson Dean) despair at son/Prince Hal's untested and youthful, boisterous and boozy ways, in the company of mirthful friends like Falstaff (Geoff Elliott)?
Who can’t understand – especially now - how personal agendas can influence historical trajectories?
The productions provides many laughs and much drama; an effortless reduction of history’s causes and effects to human, indeed, to familial (read dynastic), terms; and proof to the generational lie that the youth of any era are going to hell in a hand basket. We didn’t, we aren’t, we won’t.
Shakespeare’s saga rings loud and clear. The characters are not just the stuff of legend; they live before us. The acting of of J. Todd Adams’s Henry Percy, Freddy Douglas’s Henry, Prince of Wales, and Elliott’s Falstaff astonishes us with its energy and versatility.
Ken Merckx’s swordplay choreography rivals and surpasses any digitized Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fight scene. And Soojin Lee’s costumes lend verisimilitude to the enterprise.
This story makes you realize that ascensions to power are not Teflon-coated and seamless. Henry IV can barely rule his own people much less head off to fight in the Crusades.
The nascent empire threatens to crumble when Henry’s chum Mortimer ((Eric J. Stein) gets captured by a Scotsman, Glendower (Mitchell Edmonds) and Henry Percy (J. Todd Adams) thwarts a Scottish uprising but refuses to hand over his prisoners because the King refuses to ransom Mortimer, a relation of Lady Percy (Dorothea Harahan).
Battle lines get drawn when the King suspects that Mortimer has sided with Glendower while Percy and his father Northumberland (William Dennis Hunt), cross and indignant at the apparent ingratitude of the King they helped ascend to the throne, plot cabal with Welsh and Scottish forces.
The most poignant moment in the production occurs when King Henry chides his derelict son for sacrificing booty for duty. In a fight scene memorable for its balletic complexity, Hal suddenly grows up (the way 007 became “Bond, James Bond” at the end of Casino Royale), slays Percy, and the march of English history continues apace.
Physically aggressive and energetically a man with a mission. Adams’s Percy personified fearlessness, opportunity, and righteousness, At first Douglas’s Hal made a perfect boon companion, at home in taverns, no stranger to royal hangovers. He was youthful and mirthful, not reluctant to assume his duties, just eager to postpone them, at least until history came a-calling. And Elliott’s Falstaff was prevaricating rascal, a lout and cad, but, in the end, loyal and convivial, fiendishly lucky to have a future king as his home boy.
Performances are 8pm, Thursday May 1, 8pm Friday, May 2 and 16, Saturday, May 17, and 2pm, Sunday, May 18. The show runs until May 18. Tickets are $36-40. The Theatre is located at 234 S. Brand Boulevard, Glendale. For more information call (818) 240-0910 ext 1 or visit www.anoisewithin.org.
