Last weekend I went to The DruidShakespeare The History Plays, a seven-hour marathon of condensed versions of Richard II, Henry IV parts I & 2 and Henry V at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College, part of the Lincoln Center Festival 2015.
My first quibble is with Lincoln Center in presenting the plays a good hike to the west of Lincoln Center. I would have preferred the tent in Damrosch Park (which would have been a perfect setting for these plays) or the closer John Jay Theatre that they have used in the past. Apart from it's distance from Lincoln Center, this particular theatre, though large, is characterless and antiseptic.
Although I did not, in the end, have a problem with losing some of the text (well-edited by the Irish playwright Mark O'Rowe), I did take issue with the deliberate incorporation of Irish accents. These are history plays, after all, about the English monarchy. It just didn't work for me to have both Henry's dropping their "h"'s as if they were Irish peasants.
And I did take issue with the amount of gender switching or perhaps just with the way in which it was executed. I'm fine with a woman taking on the roles of Henry VI and V but not with long hair flying and breastplates (literally "breast" plates to accentuate the fact that these were woman) which I found distracting. It was less of an issue with Aisling O'Sullivan as Henry V, her hair held back in a tight braid and for the most part dressed in unisex tunics. Derbhle Crotty at Henry IV, with her long hair (a hairpiece?) teased out and leggings that widened her slight hips, looked more like a Real Housewife of Staten Island than a 14th century king. That aside, her actual performance lacked the fire necessary to the part. Bosco Hogan as John of Gaunt in "Richard II", thrusting her chest out like a prize hen and shuffling along, simply came across as a dementia afflicted old woman. These are powerful roles and deserved to be played as such without cheapening gimmicks.
Marty Rea's doomed Richard II, however, was magnificent. His face painted white and his attire costume-like and severe, his appearance was otherworldly, like a performer in the The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle at at Louis XIV's court of Versaille. His performance was nuanced, his line deliveries lightning quick and, although an arrogant and spoiled boy-king, he had my sympathy. I only regretted that this fine actor was not used to more effect in the later plays.
Garrett Lombard's Hotspur was also a standout as Hotspur as was Rory Nolan as Falstaff. It's always painful for me to watch Prince Hal's rejection of Falstaff in "Henry IV, Part II" and the great man's decline when his heart is broken.
I would happily go to a Druid Marathon of "Henry VII", Parts I, 2, 3 and "Richard III", but perhaps they can add the "h''s back in for the next round. And bring back the tent!
