So we made it from Paris to London and out to Wimbledon to see Ian McKellen as Falstaff in Player Kings – Robert Icke’s adaptation of Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. Entire production lasted about 4 hours including the interval. Act 1 (Part 1) was powerful. Toheeb Jimon (from Ted Lasso) was a wonderful angry young Hal whose reluctance to be King was clearly motivated and paramount. You could feel the transference of his frustration and rage against his father to Falstaff but also see his love for the old man. Ian McKellen stole the stage moving his Falstaff (albeit in a corpulent and obese fat suit) between bravado and poignant humility while avoiding the danger of making the character pathetic. Loads of laughs in Eastcheap (and quite the party scene!) Hotspur, played by Samuel Edward-Cook, was driven and brought a dynamic sense of danger and righteous anger to the stage and Richard Coyle’s Henry IV was a polished politician, however I do wish we had seen more of the character’s paranoid obsession with keeping the crown he usurped.
The set, lighting, and sound (Hildegard Bechtler, Lee Curran, and Julia Horan CDG) worked in harmony supporting the action. Traveling curtains did an exceptional job helping set the visual space, shift locations, and help with reveals. Costumes (Bechtler) placed the show in a contemporary world that fit the play as well. Surtitles were used to give scenes place and time context. The battle scene (Kev McCurdy) was emotional and moments – like the happenstance encounter between Hal and Henry IV in the middle of the battle – took your breath away.
Regretfully, Act 2 (Part 2) lost its drive. Icke shifted focus, or seemed to, away from Hal and onto the aging and dying of old men. (Aging and death are indeed part of this story but Falstaff is about life and living – he may gripe about growing old but he doesnt surrender to the grave until after his heart is broken [in my aged humble opinion]) Both Falstaff and Henry IV seem to be dealing with dementia. Falstaff seems to have fallen into a deep and morose drunken stupor, unable to function let alone talk. It was hard to watch him grow old too early in the action of the play. The loss of energy was never recovered. (I also wonder if this loss of energy was from the fact that it was a four-hour-long matinee production, the final performance in a weeklong preview run! Kudos to everyone, especially Ian McKellen at 84 for having the stamina to successfully navigate that!)
Icke does add the Falstaff death scene from Henry V as part of the denouement for Player Kings. As his compatriots lament his passing, McKellen stands in the shadows upstage with his head bowed. At the end of the scene, he walks off with the others – no recognition to either the character or the actor. Such a lost moment, regardless of how the director wanted to paint it. Hal’s internal conflict over becoming King that was so powerful in Part 1 never re-materialized in the second part either. As a matter of fact, the final tableau on stage was of Hal being surrounded by his court, and him, staring at the crown with a sense of loss and regret – his greatness being thrust upon him. I find it hard to believe that this Hal would find the resolve to become Henry V. On a side note – best thing about the interval in UK theatres is ice cream! Missed that.
