What’s it like for one man to sub for a large troupe from Togo? When visa problems kept the Togo company away from the AACT World Fest 2014 in Florida, Tim Mooney stepped from an exhibit of his adaptations of Moliere and Shakespeare’s works and his other books onto Venice Theater’s second, intimate stage. With barely a bead of sweat, he works his way quickly and notably through the history of England’s kings from John to Henry VIII in actuality and via Shakespeare’s relevant plays.
Dressed in a gold-dotted, black, generic Elizabethan suit with puffy white shirt and soft boots, Mooney uses projections -- mainly of pictures of royalty, family trees, and maps -- to convey the events important to royal ascendancy from 1066 to 1533. It seems to be off-putting these days to mention giving a history, but Mooney puts on a show that’s not just a recitation of dates and names. It works well as drama. Often enough, comedic drama.
Mooney’s pacing proves outstanding, whether giving short shrift to King John or lingering over the rise and later reign of Henry IV and his son Hal who succeeds him as Henry V. All those great Shakespearian soliloquies and stirring speeches given during father and son’s time inspire Mooney’s delivery. That, mercifully, is always in good, standard American English, easily understood. (No doubt, Mooney’s show can win over audiences in schools as well as community theaters.)
Mooney’s sense of humor comes over in his comments on the complicated lives of monarchs, their families and those they rule. His editing skills are put to the test by having to go through so many wars -- especially the one for 100 years! My favorite dramatic rendition is of twisted Richard III, as painted by Shakespeare and melodramatic as one could wish for.
Venice Theater is lucky to have Timothy Mooney on hand, and he surely deserves the hand given by the audience.
