After flying in from the Bay Area, I made my way up to Boulder for an exciting, enjoyable, evening of theater. This represented two firsts for me. I saw the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of Henry VI, Part 1, one of the few remaining Shakespeare plays I hadn’t seen before. Moreover, it was done as one of CSF’s “Original Practices” productions, the first one I’ve seen.
The set was basic, and unchanging, consisting of some structures with some tapestries. These were used for many locations, castles, etc in England and France. It was a little challenging to follow the story since there’s a lot of history, and they jumped around using actors for multiples roles. But it was great fun. The original practices concept gives the actors less rehearsal, only guided by a que script, and lots of interaction with the audience with the lights up the whole time. They even had someone on stage giving them lines if they forgot their place. And they placed some audience seats on the stage just like they used to do with the aristocracy.
I think they played up humor of the play, particularly with the French aristocrats in the beginning. The play overall was quite fun, but also poignant, and the roughness of the original practices production seemed natural and energized both the cast and crew. I’m really glad I got to see it.
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