Henry V
★★★☆☆ Contrarious
theSpace @ Niddry Street (Venue 9): Mon 12 – Fri 16 Aug 2024
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Henry V from Massachusetts-based Ghost Light Players is a dynamic, physical, ensemble-centred production of Shakespeare’s sprawling history that aims to impress upon its audience the “bloody cost of war”.
This adaptation blends a ruthlessly-cut script with devised movement, stylised combat, modern music, and chorus of twelve performers, of whom five play the titular monarch in turn.
A scene from Henry V Pic: Ghost Light Players
Simple costumes in shades of grey from costumer Lori Rabeler, augmented here and there by patches or symbolic armour made from pull tabs and other recycled materials, define the chorus as a single body stepping out into the play’s many roles.
Red sashes identify English characters, blue the French, and a traveling crown King Henry, whose actor changes at pivotal moments throughout the story: Karina Belano Carney, Jennifer Drummond, Natalie Hebert, Chris JM Maloney, and Rob Slotnick all put in distinct turns while remaining identifiable as the same character.
While the progression of the crown from actor to actor is effective in conveying the weight of its responsibility and the shared burden of war, as a whole this production suffers from something of an identity crisis, unable to decide if it is classical or progressive, and not quite reaching a balance of both.
disjointed
Under the direction of Kat Alix-Gaudreau, Henry V establishes a fairly classical presentation of the text against interludes of modern music, beginning with the audience’s entrance to the Oh Hellos’ Soldier, Poet, King, which is not in itself a clash— but the music choices are at times disjointed, with such long gaps between them that it’s easy to forget they’re part of the overall scheme, and the occasional intrusion of a harpsichord.
Soundscapes reminiscent of the Blitz add to the aural confusion, when all the fighting represented onstage is hand-to-hand, and with no suggestion that the characters exist in any time but the fifteenth century in which Shakespeare set the play.
A scene from Henry V Pic: Ghost Light Players
The colour coding of the English and French, too, falls apart when the two sides meet in battle: all characters then wear red sashes, which are also used to symbolise blood, and take the place of more traditional weapons in the choreography at Harfleur and Agincourt.
The fight choreography by Will Gelinas and use of sashes in this way is an elegant integration of the production’s general movement style, and clearly a successful collaboration with movement choreographer Michelle Leibowitz, but could have been achieved while maintaining the distinction of who’s on which side.
not a weak link
The company as a whole give strong performances: there is not a weak link among the actors, who have clearly done their work with the text, and whose physical commitment and specificity is admirable. Certain consistencies are lacking, such as the pronunciation of Dauphin, upon which they cannot seem to agree, but as a whole Henry V is a strong effort in the genre of Shakespearean adaptation.
Running time: One hour and 10 minutes (no interval)
theSpace @ Niddry Street (Upper), Niddry Street EH1 1TH (Venue 9)
Monday 12 – Friday 16 August 2024
Daily: 3:50pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
Website: www.ghostlightplayers.com/Fringe2024
Facebook: @GLPlayers
Instagram: @glplayers
A scene from Henry V Pic: Ghost Light Players
ENDS
