Tonight I saw yet another Shakespeare play, from yet another (new for me) company. This time I was back at my alma matter for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of Henry IV, Part 1. Unexpectedly for me, this was another opening night, and they did a great job.
This play was performed in the University Theatre, which is on the CU campus, just down from The Hill. They used a simple set consisting of a basic wooden structure with some stairs and platforms that were periodically reconfigured, but it worked fine. The acting and the overall production was outstanding. The sword fighting during the battle scenes was particularly energetic and realistic. I was happily surprised to see that Falstaff was played by Michael Winters, who I saw do such a great job last summer as King Lear in Ashland. He was also a wonderful Falstaff.
It was a long day starting with getting up at 3 am to go to the airport, followed by meeting an old friend for lunch in Denver. It was nice to get back on campus, during a calm time of the summer. Unfortunately, the Denver Metro traffic is still terrible, and getting up to Boulder is no fun. But I was very impressed with this play, and I’m looking forward to the next two nights.