Henry VI Opening Night!

Dear readers.
Now that the show has successfully opened, the purpose of this blog has changed. I no longer will be chronicling the rehearsal process since I can officially bow out of my responsibilities as of now. What I will use this blog to do is to give the audience a larger sense of the play so that when you see it, you can enjoy it with the same rich understanding as the actors who have worked so hard to immerse themselves in Shakespeare's re-telling of the 15th century.

I wish to first of all say what an incredible experience this show is. After the opening performance, the audience immediately gave the actors a standing ovation and clapped long enough to warrant two encore bows.
It is easy to see why this show strikes such a chord with audience members- Henry the Sixth Part III is packed with wonderful poetry, suspenseful fights, and wonderful characters that keep the audience riveted from beginning to end. The Blackfriars Playhouse provides a wonderfully intimate experience as well, which the actors capitalize. Here, more than any theatre in the world, you can see the horrors of civil war acted out inches away from you as you watch the ambitious Yorkists strike against their Lancastrian cousins. John Harrell, Patrick Midgley and Ben Curns as the sons of York are full of insatiable energy, particularly Ben Curns as the bloodthirsty Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and future King Richard III. On the other side, Greg Phelps as King Henry is a wonderfully flawed monarch. Both childish and saintlike, he laments over his kingdom's loss like a little boy who has lost his father. I would also be remiss if I did not mention Sarah Fallon's dominating Queen Margaret, whose very presence at the start of the play inspired cheers and happy murmors from the audience. In the scene in which she kills the Duke of York, she wrenches the audience's attention and never lets it drop. Likewise Jeremy West has an incredibly moving speech as he weeps for his son's death, (whom Margaret helped to murder), moments before his own head is stuck off.

Every performance was incredibly well acted, well thought out, and delivered with the kind of intimate power that only the ASC can deliver. Likewise the music and costumes help a great deal to present the themes of civil war, and the changing of the guard. The Yorkists wear modern military costumes while the Lancastrians are in Elizabethan garb, to signify the conflict between old chivalry, and new total war. The Yorkists after all, were the first to use gunpowder in siege battles, so this choice gives Shakespeare's play a particularly poignant edge.

Another great feature is the excellent fight choreography. 11 scenes of the play take place on the battlefield and many characters die in brutal deaths. The cast, which has in it many heavily trained actor-combatants, has worked hard to make the violence as brutal as possible, while still remaining safe for the audience members who are brave enough to sit onstage.

I do not wish to give too much away, since there are plenty other surprises that I have not mentioned, but I wish to urge how magnificent a show this is. Rarely are Shakespeare's history plays produced at all, and even more rare it is to see one done by such a remarkable ensemble cast. For tickets and other information, visit their website at americanshakespearecenter.org