Condensed Bard

8 December 2003


Lincoln Center's Henry IV Abridgement Almost Works

Part of the problem with performing Shakespeare's history plays is their connectedness. Henry V and Richard III stand on their own but are part of the larger Plantagenet saga, while the three parts of Henry IV only work if taken as a whole, easily a multi-night event or a day-long marathon. Alternatively, as at New York's Lincoln Center, the three can be shortened and the story told in one shot. While not descending close to the level of Reader's Digest condensed fiction, the adaptation just doesn't quite get it right.

The perceived excessive length in Shakespeare is largely due to modern sensibilities. In 1600, thespians read through the work at 22-24 lines per minute; in 2003, 14 per minute is a break-neck pace. Some of this is due to the difficulty in understanding Elizabethan construction, and some of it stems from the habit of actors in Shakespeare's day to declaim, rather than act, the expository parts. Moreover, for generations weaned on the half-hour and hour-long TV drama (complete with commercial breaks) there is an impatience that the Elizabethans simply lacked. Thus, the abridgement.

Where the effort by playwright Dakin Matthews doesn't quite work is in the transformation of Prince Hal from carousing knave to heir apparent. There is no spark, there is no reason. One moment, he is playing games with his ill-chosen friends, and the next, he is repenting before his father. In a 3 hour 40 minute show, an extra five minutes spent on the protecting the suspension of disbelief would not have gone amiss and would have made Michael Hayden's charming and credible performance as Prince Hal less needlessly challenging.

The cast bear no blame for this shortcoming. Richard Easton in the title role and Byron Jennings as Worcester act as if the English of the 17th century were their mother tongue. Adura McDonald as Lady Percy, Steve Rankin as Poins and actor Dakin Matthews as Owen Glendower stand out in a more-than-competent cast. As advertised, Kevin Kline as Falstaff and Ethan Hawk as Hotspur are the marquee players and are most certainly not mere movie starts pretending to do Shakespeare.

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