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<\/a>Baird and Matthew Henerson co-direct the history play and also portray the lead characters. Baird provides an admirable, heroic and human King Henry V, who sports so real a wound under his left eye that one worries for the actor. Henerson assays the devious Archbishop of Canterbury and the Welsh captain, Fluellen, Shakespeare\u2019s fictional, pedantic and lovable comic relief at the Battle of St. Crispin\u2019s Day. Historically, the battle was waged at Agincourt, France, in 1415. In New Fortune\u2019s production it takes place anywhere in time, yet is resonant with WWI, and has accouterments of modern warfare.<\/p>\n
The young Henry, having eschewed his youthful escapades with John Falstaff (an off-stage character in this play) \u2014 and the Eastcheap characters; Nym, Pistol, Mistress Quickly and Bardolph (who appear in \u201cHenry V\u201d) \u2014 leads his army into battle with French forces that far outnumber his. They should be massacred, but they are not, and meanwhile Henry delivers some of Shakespeare\u2019s greatest speeches and charmingly woos and wins the French princess, Katharine (Amanda Schaar, who also presents a fetching Boy on the battlefield).<\/p>\n Boy is part of Fluellen\u2019s cadre, along with the aforementioned reluctant and incompetent Nym (Marcus L. Overton), Pistol (John Tessmer), Bardolph (Walter Murray) and Nell Quickly (Dana Hooley). Adeptly, all play additional roles, most of them exceptionally well. Overton impresses as the French king, and Hooley and Schaar excel in the endearing scene in which Katharine attempts to learn English. Others in the company are Ed Hollingsworth, J. Tyler Jones, Neil McDonald, Jake Rosko, Matthew Thompson, and Rachael VanWormer.<\/p>\n Depending on one\u2019s point of view, \u201cHenry V\u201d is a great antiwar play and its title character, a hero. The opposing view is that he was a cruel warmonger.<\/p>\n Baird\u2019s emotionally involved Henry embodies the former view, especially when his Henry reads out the list of the French who died at Agincourt. Shakespeare seemingly takes no side in the matter, merely presents the circumstances, voiced by a Chorus of one (Jessica John, in a series of imaginative costumes), who invites us to see and judge for ourselves.<\/p>\n Justin Lang\u2019s scenic design consists of a bare, textured playing surface enhanced by the addition of an occasional throne, battlefield sandbags and Kacia Catelli\u2019s props. Aaron Rumley\u2019s lighting design, Matt Lescault-Wood\u2019s sound design, and Castelli\u2019s costumes consistently support the production.<\/p>\n In the best of all worlds, the 14-person company\u2019s diction would be on the same page. That happens rarely, however, even in the world of lavish, professionally produced Shakespeare. As related to a friend, one hardly ever sees a perfect Shakespeare company, especially when celebrities are cast in hopes of attracting an audience. Closest to perfection was the Shakespeare Globe\u2019s gender-crossed 2003 \u201cTwelfth Night,\u201d starring Mark Rylance as Olivia and seen at UCLA. Such repertory companies that consistently work together have the best shot at unity.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, let us hope that New Fortune finds the financial support to assure future productions. Meanwhile, they intend to produce a series of readings while in residence at ion, where \u201cHenry V\u201d plays through Nov. 9 only. Do not miss their inaugural effort.<\/p>\n \u2014 Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. Her book \u201cSan Diego, Jewel of the California Coast\u201d (Northland Publishing) is currently available in bookstores. She can be reached at charb81@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"IMG_2147web\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_2147web.jpg\")
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