Stratford is back to normal
Shakespeare
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The good news is that simplicity has returned
to Stratford-upon-Avon. And with simplicity, truth. And with truth, of course,
credibility. The Terry Hands production of Henry IV Part One boasts not
a single gimmick.
No one wears modern dress. No one invents new
lines.
In its centenary year the Royal Shakespeare
Theatre honours its past by honouring this text.
On a stage bare, except for two high galleries
on each side and a rough trestle for a throne, Alan Howard's extraordinary
Prince Hal seeks his identity by turning potman with Falstaff down at Eastcheap
- or, alternatively, by entering the royal court and trying on the role of
chivalric valour. |
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At first he suggests an invalid, almost a neurotic -
almost, being so limp and shabby, an Aguecheek. His curious voice, at once
nasal and throaty, like a frog with a cold, never loses an edge of cruelty, or
his blue eye its disdain.
In the tavern he seems bored and desperate, playing
Falstaff's games half-heartedly and only coming to life to turn white when war
is mentioned, and to turn savage when the fat knight asks not to be
banished.
As Falstaff, Brewster Mason has the advantage of
being naturally a huge hill of flesh and is blessed with a heart-warming
smile.
For the rest, the conspirators and the battle are
stirringly presented. Emrys James's ingrate and cankered King springs the plot
superbly with his rasping arrogance and there are eye-catching performances by
Trevor Peacock (Poins) and George Baker (Worcester).
I have to mention a weak Hotspur from Stuart Wilson,
all huff and puff with no feel for the character, but in the main this is a
distinguished revival.
John Barber
Daily Telegraph, 25.4.75.