Most who see this condensation of the four Shakespeare plays will see them back to back, probably in matinee and evening performances, so, obviously, the Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 will be fresher and more stirring than the final two. But in many ways those plays seem, overall, more grabbing to me. I’ve been finding the opening sections of Henry IV, Part 2 less amusing than most of Part 1 recently, anyway. The second dose of Falstaff’s boasting and lying begins to show more fallibility and less charm while Shakespeare begins to groom Hal to start to shed his youthful fooling under pressure of his greater responsibility to prepare to be the succeeding monarch. Bardolph and Pistol seem increasingly boorish, and, for me, the play does not really become greatly involving until the physically suffering Henry IV approaches his death. In the potent scene when Hal visits his dying father, thinking him already dead, Hal picks up the crown on the King‘s pillow, and puts it on his own head, The Prince muses on its evil appeal that has killed his father. The King wakes to condemn his son for not waiting to grab the crown, and Hal passionately assures him that Hal doesn’t want it and regards it with hatred for distancing and killing his father. And not until then do we see the complex love between father and son. Rather low-key earlier as a cut-up prince, Araya Mengesha finally really enters Hal’s character in that scene, and Graham Abbey is overwhelmingly moving as the King. Every succeeding scene is deepened and energized by that one. When Hal finally rejects him, Geraint Wyn Davies’s Falstaff has become vulnerable, pitiful, funny, tedious, witty and stupid, and viciously cruel. Even in this cut-down farrago, our conflicting responses to him testify to the richness of Wyn Davies’ characterization. I’m less happy with Mengesha’s Henry V. He seems efficient and likable in the final courtship scene but not especially charming, and clearly power-hungry, not in love. His great rousing speeches are effective but neither truly heroic, as some great Henrys have been, nor amazed and delighted at how well he has succeeded, as others have played the young king at war. The French court is impressive, but although I thought Mikaela Davies brought the clever and beautiful daughter to sparkling life, I had to work to accept her as the boastful Dauphin. The production ends looking elaborate and very spirited, however. As highlights from four well-known Shakespeare history plays, these “Breaths” of kings contain a lot of treasures in a showcase of Canada’s Stratford Festival’s remarkable ensemble. But a smaller gem like this season’s restaged A Chorus Line or the splendid revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons shines more efficiently and even more brightly.
