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Henry VIII
Jan. 2nd, 2014 10:21 pmSunday I ushered for ASP's production of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. I was particularly excited about it because I've never seen it, and I've read enough about the period to be familiar with the story.
The production was (er, "is", I suppose, in the sense that it runs until Sunday (with an extra show added due to demand, surprisingly enough), but I'm unlikely to see it again) done in period costuming*, with a lot of choreographed movement, most of it dancing, some processing. As with most of their productions, it was a minimalist set: there was an elaborate painted circle on the floor, with knight and king names on it in a manuscript font, a la Round Table (all the names other than Henry's were Arthurian); the back of the stage area had irregular plinths into platforms, with a huge cross on one side, and those medieval chairs that look rather like heavy wooden criss-crossing camp chairs (I noticed that the cross was one step up from those thrones: religious authority trumping temporal, at least in this). And that was it.
* I had lots of costume envy. Some of the men's clothes, especially, looked like they'd be great today. And I didn't mind seeing so many men's legs in tights, either!
The story was oddly episodic, with one problem person until knocked down (beheaded, defrocked, divorced, whatever), then another one arising. Henry was too much a man of emotions, as always, but often seemed to play the deus ex machina of each playlet, rather than being center stage throughout. I kept wondering how Henry's later excesses would be addressed, but they were completely avoided by ending with Elizabeth's christening, allowing the priest to give a nicely prophetic speech at the end, avoiding all those later disastrous marriages which didn't even get him any heir material. The unfortunate Mary is mentioned only as her mother's daughter, so her problematic reign is ignored completely too. It left me feeling like a carefully written marketing backstory for Elizabeth, even though the earlier plots (Cardinal Woolsey, some nobles meeting unfortunate ends) had nothing to do with her. Even Anne Boleyn was portrayed as not wanting to catch the king, but unable to do anything to turn his fancy aside (not the view I've read, but hey, history is open to interpretation).
Apparently the company did much editing to get to their 2:30 show, some of which included putting a lot of minor characters onto one actor, who was jester, random nobles, and random women as the need arose. I was impressed with how well this worked, the adjustment of a scarf or a jester puppet helping. I wasn't as sure about the video projection during Catherine's death scene, more because it didn't fit with the rest of the production than anything else. All in all, I'm glad I got to see this, even having to stand for the first half.
The production was (er, "is", I suppose, in the sense that it runs until Sunday (with an extra show added due to demand, surprisingly enough), but I'm unlikely to see it again) done in period costuming*, with a lot of choreographed movement, most of it dancing, some processing. As with most of their productions, it was a minimalist set: there was an elaborate painted circle on the floor, with knight and king names on it in a manuscript font, a la Round Table (all the names other than Henry's were Arthurian); the back of the stage area had irregular plinths into platforms, with a huge cross on one side, and those medieval chairs that look rather like heavy wooden criss-crossing camp chairs (I noticed that the cross was one step up from those thrones: religious authority trumping temporal, at least in this). And that was it.
* I had lots of costume envy. Some of the men's clothes, especially, looked like they'd be great today. And I didn't mind seeing so many men's legs in tights, either!
The story was oddly episodic, with one problem person until knocked down (beheaded, defrocked, divorced, whatever), then another one arising. Henry was too much a man of emotions, as always, but often seemed to play the deus ex machina of each playlet, rather than being center stage throughout. I kept wondering how Henry's later excesses would be addressed, but they were completely avoided by ending with Elizabeth's christening, allowing the priest to give a nicely prophetic speech at the end, avoiding all those later disastrous marriages which didn't even get him any heir material. The unfortunate Mary is mentioned only as her mother's daughter, so her problematic reign is ignored completely too. It left me feeling like a carefully written marketing backstory for Elizabeth, even though the earlier plots (Cardinal Woolsey, some nobles meeting unfortunate ends) had nothing to do with her. Even Anne Boleyn was portrayed as not wanting to catch the king, but unable to do anything to turn his fancy aside (not the view I've read, but hey, history is open to interpretation).
Apparently the company did much editing to get to their 2:30 show, some of which included putting a lot of minor characters onto one actor, who was jester, random nobles, and random women as the need arose. I was impressed with how well this worked, the adjustment of a scarf or a jester puppet helping. I wasn't as sure about the video projection during Catherine's death scene, more because it didn't fit with the rest of the production than anything else. All in all, I'm glad I got to see this, even having to stand for the first half.