Sennett: Henry V, nice idea, bad execution

A young man must fight his first big battle as king in William Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” Can the limited theatre space in Toledo’s Center for the Performing Arts possibly hold vast battlefields and large castles? The grand scale of the battle scenes depicted in all the film versions of “Henry V” make it seem impossible. I wondered how they were going to pull this off. What will the set look like? How complicated could it be? I walked into the modestly sized black box theatre to see just one set piece: a wagon.

The minimalist set design worked incredibly well — not only to set the mood for the play, but to urge the audience to use their imaginations. Shakespeare encourages this in his chorus’s prologue, “A kingdom for a stage,” referencing the limits of the “wooden O” that was the Globe Playhouse of his time.

Even the pre-show music at first seemed ambiguous and low-key enough to leave room for the audience to conjure their own imaginary battlefields. Then, the pre-show playlist changed to Top 40 radio, an early hint to what would go wrong. The first song was curious and set the mood well, but Lorde’s “Royals” doesn’t exactly scream “Shakespeare” to me.

Pre-show music flaws aside, Stephen Sakowski’s excellent mood lighting and Daniel Thobias’s ingenious production design redeemed any obnoxious pop songs which played before the show. Then, I noticed a man standing in the catwalk, peering down at the audience below. As he made his way down a set of stairs, he began to speak, “Oh, for a muse of fire … ” This man was Qarie Marshall, portraying the chorus. The choreography was impressive as every member of the cast suddenly entered the stage and excited the audience. Director Irene Alby really seems to know how to use every inch of her performance space, creating an entertaining and effective opening.

In Alby’s very well-written note in the playbill, she talks about the historic battle of Agincourt. In this note, she refers to Henry V as a “warmonger,” and how Shakespeare used this play not to document the battle, but to satirize the futility of war. I welcomed this interpretation, and was intrigued how she would illustrate this idea.

In past interpretations of “Henry V,” such as Laurence Olivier’s revolutionary film adaptation, Henry V is no less than a hero. However Henry V is portrayed, hero or villain, one thing is for sure: Henry is a young man. He was previously seen as immature in Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.” After the death of his father, the young Henry must assume the crown and all the responsibilities that follow. The battle of Agincourt is Henry’s rite of passage and the play is really about a young man assuming responsibility.

In an over-the-top entrance, Henry V (played by Nolan M. Thomaswick) entered center stage. He was heavily backlit and loud electric guitar music cued his arrival. Alby directed Henry to act obnoxious, arrogant and hungry for blood. I found it interesting, at first, to see how much one could do with words written 400 years ago. Using these same words, many personalities can be portrayed on stage. In this case, Alby turned a hero into a villain. In the famous, “Once more unto the breach,” speech, Henry and his court sing together as if in a rock concert. What at first seemed like an interesting idea turned into gratuitous nonsense filled with sexual innuendoes and

unlikable characters.

I liked Alby’s idea — I just hated the execution. Loud rock music and modern political humor obscured what could have been a subtle character study, using only words as a foundation. Henry could have matured into an evil monarch, but instead he seemed two-dimensional and hard to watch.

In the final act, Henry woos the daughter of the French king despite the language barrier. This sweet ending was written comically but retained elegance and class. In Alby’s interpretation, Henry does not woo Catherine at all. Instead, he practically assaults her on stage. I must say, this is appropriate for Alby’s interpretation of Henry as a power-hungry monster, ending the play on an eerie note of hopelessness. When Henry is interpreted as a hero, the battle of Agincourt is a lot like a football game. Henry is the captain and under his leadership, he inspires his kingdom. But in Alby’s interpretation, Henry cheated in the game.

Toledo’s production of “Henry V” was blocked well, and had some interesting character ideas, but ultimately it lacked subtly and dimension.

Evan Sennett is a first-year majoring in film studies, and he is also an IC cartoonist.