Dachs Thoughts

After a brief 3 1/2 hour break, this evening I returned to the Thomas Theatre, and saw OSF’s production of Henry IV, Part 2. This was a lot of Henry IV in one day, but it was a great way to see the full arc of the story, and it was another very good production. While the two parts had different directors, they used the same principle actors, and the staging was the same. Falstaff was again wonderfully played by the understudy, and interestingly replacing him in the roles he would normally play was Ted Lange of Love Boat fame. It’s great to see the growth of Hal to King Henry over the course of the two plays. It’s also sad to see the arc of Falstaff who starts out as prince Hal’s bad influence buddy, and ends up banished from his presence. I kind of feel the play of Part 2 is a bit weaker, and I kind of understand why it’s performed less, and why CalShakes did that hybrid version. So glad I got to see these plays together. It was really good. Seeing this also removed the asterisk on my canon completion as this was my first complete production of Henry IV, Part 2. A bit like binge watching TV series, I wish I could go to Henry V tomorrow.
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This afternoon I saw a terrific production of Henry IV, Part 1 in the intimate Thomas Theatre at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. There was great contrast between the serious political intrigue scenes and the comic Hal with Falstaff scenes. It opened in what appeared to be a go-go bar/strip club type establishment, were the young Hal was thoroughly debauched. The acting was suburb. Jeffery King was Henry IV and he was powerful. The actor playing Hal was terrific, and the actor playing Falstaff, Tyrone Wilson, was an understudy who came in and did a great job, as much of the play rests on him. This play show the arc of prince Hal and his growth from a wild kid to someone who begins to take on his adult responsibilities. The production was terrific, and a lot of fun, and was very moving as well. A great start to the day of Henry.
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Today I embarked on another Shakespeare adventure in Ashland at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Getting started about an hour late I made my way up, passing though a lot of hazy smoky country in northern California ultimately getting to Ashland, which at the time seemed to be smoke free. After picking up my tickets and getting settled into my hotel, I headed over for my first play of the series in the Bowmer Theatre.

The first play in my week of theater was a production of Julius Caesar, the second I’ve seen this summer. It was a more abstract staging than the more classical one put on by CoSF. The staging was pretty sparse, representing a decaying Rome. It took me a while to warm up to it in comparison to CoSF’s, but ultimately it got me, particularly towards the second half. The fight/battle scenes were actually very interestingly choreographed, being more like a dance than a fight, initially only showing one side or the other going through fight moves. The ending was very powerful making a abstract commentary on the never-ending conflict and fighting. A good way to start out my week
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