Henry V

[fajrdrako]

Went to see Henry V this evening at the Irving Greenberg Theatre, put on by the Third Wall Company. I've wanted to see something by them ever since they did Murder in the Cathedral a few years ago, and I missed it.

I was reassured tonight: maybe I was better off missing it.

It was a motion-filled production of Henry V. Lots of climbing on the scaffolding. Everyone enunciated clearly and shouted most of the time. Shouted so much that no one was left with any personality but Henry. The French princess was totally charmless; Henry would have been better off with her rather stolid, plump lady in waiting. Falstaff was omitted. The costumes (drab khaki uniforms, mostly) didn't fit. I rather liked the staging (with red scaffolding) but they kept trying to differentiate the French from the English with large flags - the cross of St. George on one, the fleurs-de-lys on the other - and the flags kept falling down as soon as they went up.

At one point maaseru whispered to me, "When directors don't know what to do, they move the furniture."

Oh for a muse of fire...