Yes, the plot is dense and the conflicts are complicated, but if you can invest, history-rich Henry IV Part I at the Colorado Shakespeare festival reveals itself as the comedic jewel it undeniably is. It’s like spending time with someone with a thick accent — what starts as a deeply furrowed brow morphs into colloquial chatter, smiles and nods. Director Carolyn Howarth’s production of Henry IV has the same conversation with the audience. Once it persuades you to commit – which takes some coaxing – you’re pleasantly bombarded with the Bard’s full comedic arsenal.
You know the story: The bratty child of an aristocrat treats life as if it’s a carnival held in his honor. However, this 300-year-old work’s privileged Prince Harry, portrayed by Benjamin Bonenfant, always manages to redeem himself just before catapulting all the way into the egotistical stratosphere alongside the Kardashians and Hiltons. Bonenfant initially teases us into hating him, but his second act shift toward morality and manhood just makes it too damn hard.
His final act of valor on the battlefield is a Disney-like reminder that he is in fact the good guy, and his transition from bad apple to military badass makes the parallel to England’s current red-haired Prince of the same name downright eerie.
Shakespeare’s Prince Harry and his buddy Poins make for a bizarro Merry and Pippin, who revel in playfully tormenting the infamous and bumbling Sir John Falstaff. The Prince revels in subjecting Falstaff to a coterie of semi-harmless hijinks — a very Jim Halpert/Dwight Schrutte The Office dynamic the duo pulls off splendidly. Falstaff oozes greed, shamelessness and twisted wit.
It’s with these characters, particularly Falstaff, that the play becomes masterful, Shakespearean manipulation. Falstaff (Michael Winters) is slimy, entrenched in his perversions and peccadillos, but he persuades us that cowardice is cool. That classic, Falstaffian enigma of rallying for the greasy scalawag comes through in spades in Winters’ performance. It answers the question why Americans can’t get enough of that damned Jack Sparrow.
Here’s where the play gets complicated. We love to hate Falstaff, and we love to root for the the guy we should hate. Geoffrey Kent is a commanding Henry Percy, the foe and foil to Prince Harry. An allegiance to Harry and Falstaff results in some uncomfortable cognitive dissonance when you realize you’re rooting for Percy and his cause.
At this point, the audience is no longer straining with the accents and language, but cheering for characters in a Shakespearean play.
Kent owns every scene he’s in, offering impeccable timing and comic skill. The fact that he is the only one in street clothes also may have helped his cause – it’s much easier to genuinely appreciate the performance of a guy in jeans and a hoodie than a fool in velveteen slacks.
The show’s only flaw is the venue at University Theater. With other CSF productions, gleefully unfolding in the neighboring, renowned Mary Rippon outdoor theatre, it’s hard not feel that this is just the kid brother to the grown-up shows taking place a couple hundred yards away. The Mary Rippon experience is part of what sets this festival off from every other one in the country, the stuffy auditorium diminished the show when you know what’s possible just a few steps away.
3 out of 5 Stars
Henry IV Part I
Part of the 2014 Colorado Shakespeare Festival
University Theater, CU Boulder Campus
Tickets: $18 – $54 with some discounts available.
303-492-8008
July 27 (sold out) & 30, Aug. 3, 6, 8 & 10
Curtains at 7:30, 2:30 and 1:30 p.m.