SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE FILM SPOTLIGHT: HENRY IV, Parts 1 & 2

On August 18, Fathom Entertainment continues their unprecedented live stage-on-film series begun earlier this summer - in the form of movie theater showings of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR and HENRY IV: Part 1 in June and July, respectively - with Dominic Dromgoole's conclusion of the epic Shakespearean historical saga featuring the most beloved character in the entire canon, Falstaff - Shakespeare's Globe new production of HENRY IV: Part 2. For those who were lucky enough to witness the first part of HENRY IV last month, you are most assuredly intimately familiar with the sumptuously detailed and microscopically sensitive production on view and how sensitively it has been captured in these stupendous HD movie theater showings, and, HENRY IV: Part 2, I am glad to report, is much more of the same - and with even bigger stakes and higher drama! Fear not, because if you did not get the chance to take part in the showing of Part 1 on August 1, you can easily jump right on this wild and raucous runaway train and have a truly tremendous ride - plus, there is enough fantastic music and musical numbers to keep even the Broadway babies among us satiated! In just six filmed productions Shakespeare's Globe has now solidified itself as the veritable House of Shakespeare on Film and this huge, epic, multi-faceted tapestry of a production of HENRY IV - just as it should be done, given the play - is finally given its full due on film for the very first time ever, and, at that, coming in the form of an HD live performance capture. Just as it should be. After all, Shakespeare on film is best when it is alive and visceral and in-your-face- and the Shakespeare's Globe filming of HENRY IV, Parts 1 and 2, cuts closer than Sweeney Todd's favorite razor blade. Speaking of which - while there is more than one's home country's fair share of folly and frivolity and fun in the comedy/drama historical story, there is also more than a goatsong's share of bloodshed and violence, as well. War is family - that seems to be the theme. And, anyway, what sword slices closer to the heart than that; than family? None. HENRY IV: Part 2 begins with all concerned poised to pounce, on the edge of war, and by its conclusion there will unquestionably be blood - and glory. But, who will be king? And, who will be left alive?

At The Edge Of War & The Precipice Of Glory

A story of family, war, treachery, betrayal, violence and transcendence, the complete two nights of HENRY IV by William Shakespeare make up perhaps the richest and most consistently rewarding of all entertainment experiences when it comes to all the many varied, many difficult, histories. HENRY V actually contains the famous ode to the Globe - in the incomparable poetic lassitude and latitude of its remarkable "O" speech - and that history was the very first play staged at the new Shakespeare's Globe in 1997 when Mark Rylance - incidentally, a Tony Award-winner this year for his sterling work in just-closed Broadway hit JERUSALEM - and Sam Wannamaker - father of Zoe - christened the stage with the very first production there at the new space. So, now, the O has found its syllogistic sister with the live movie theater broadcasts of HENRY IV: Part 1 and HENRY IV: Part 2 by Fathom Entertainment broadcast live in cinemas. Could Billy S himself have asked for a better mounting of his masterpiece history play? And - at that - both parts? The answer to that, good groundlings, is an emphatic no.

For an audience member seeking out to brush up their Shakespeare - or relive the myriad of glories therein all over again - Shakespeare's Globe production of HENRY IV: Part 1 and Part 2 is the absolute ideal introduction to the histories - or for Shakespeare at large. You see, the viewer is drawn in so unbelievably closely - so very intimately - with the actors and action and the audience at the Globe, as well as with the comedy and the drama and the historical detail, that the culmination of all the elements is at once mesmerizing and nearly-dizzying at first. It's a very wide swatch cut by Shakespeare in the structure and story and characters portrayed - not even mentioning the history itself - and it is all juggled so well and so effortlessly that you barely even realize how much you are learning while being entertained.

The camerawork makes it even better: the dynamic angles, set-ups and close-ups employed by the six HD cameras manage to give a vivid multi-dimensionality to the proceedings and the crisp edits match with precise building of visuals to magnify the incomparable poetry and complexity of the words. To say that this production works better on film than it does onstage would be a considerable disservice to Dromgoole's simply superb direction here - particularly stage business and the comedy that can fall flat in HENRY IV. The considerable amount of interaction with the live audience throughout - many of whom are standing in the stalls, just like the groundlings of yore, in the midst of the action throughout, as it happens (delightfully) - adds yet another dimension, breaking down the fourth wall right from the start. Not to spoil Falstaff's entrance for those who are going into Part 2 having not seen Part 1 and will seek it out on the eventual DVD (out later this year), but those who have seen Part 1 will think it to be near- impossible to top the stage magic of that moment - but, believe it or not: just you wait! Part 2 manages to be a more tightly-wound and briskly-paced show overall, but the electricity of each and every performance really brings it up a notch to a heavenly conclusion. While happy endings are never guaranteed, expected, or what they seem in Shakespeare, HENRY IV presents one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking conclusions of all.

You will be thinking about the performance long after you have seen it. Case in point: Dromgoole's staging of the action in the final scenes is the prime crown jewel in this sparkling diamond of a dual-production - and surely, the most cherished ruby lies in his Hal (a spot-on and appealing Jamie Parker), the central pearl of Henry IV himself (a judiciously measured and captivating Oliver Cotton), and, of course, the darkest jade in all the world coming in the form of Roger Allam's frankly beyond-reproach Falstaff.

Speaking of whom: the character of Falstaff, appearing in seven of Shakespeare's plays, - comedies and tragedies and histories among them, including the previous two offerings by Shakespeare's Globe: the jovial and jubilant production of THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, as well as the aforementioned distinctively innovative and exciting HENRY IV: Part 1 - is oft cited as Shakespeare's greatest character creation. When HENRY IV or any of the Falstaff plays are done on major stages in the USA, many theater fans would tell you that perhaps Brian Dennehy is the purveyor of the role, if not quite the one and only in recent memory worth noting - and everyone who is anyone A-list wants to play Falstaff. Yet, it is abundantly clear as to be gob-smackingly obvious when judging from Allam's performance in Parts 1 and 2 of HENRY IV in the Shakespeare's Globe broadcasts that Allam not only now owns the role amongst all actors alive, without question - but, perhaps, this is the finest Falstaff that we have seen since the age of the Bard himself. I cannot say for sure since I was not there way back when (who was?) - yet, you can feel his greatness at work when you watch him. If you look. I wonder - what would W.S. say of Allam's work?

Yes, indeed - what is the recipe of Allam's poetry-made- word-made-man's persuasive, pungent power as Falstaff? How does he make the words explode as they exit his mouth? First - power; above all. You feel his power - even if his character may not be the most accomplished or rich among men. Then, there is his verve and shrewdness - he's sly like a fox. And, lastly, but tellingly - it is Falstaff's vicious ferocity that gives him that extra added malevolence. Plus, there is a crusty, strangely sophisticated nature about him in Allam's hands, and, all-
too-calculatedly cruel edge laying just below the surface of so many of his words and actions, particularly his nefariousness is Part 2. The complexity of the role is mined in ways never quite imagined, let alone enacted, before in Allam's definitive portrayal of Falstaff here. Allam's performance cuts sharp, deep and draws copious buckets worth of blood from hearts, guts and brains as it does so - all whilst caressing your cheek so softly with a lover's kiss as he slips in the knife, almost sweetly. There's also his fatalism, too.

More than in many - maybe any - production of HENRY IV, Dromgoole paints the giant canvas of this epic tale in stokes evoking Fassbinder's sixteen-hour film of BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ. It is as if Dromgoole cut the slices of cheese and the grapes eaten by Falstaff in the pub himself- and sharpened the knives used to eat them with, to boot. That's the level of detail given to each moment. It's like a 10,000 piece puzzle with all hand-painted pieces. How unexpectedly delightful it is to get swept up into this HENRY IV, particularly Part 2 - so much history; so much story; so much emotion; yet, there is a simple message here about the nature of power and war and what family means in society and how fathers and sons relate to each other. The words never age and neither does the meaning behind them, and this production - staged fastidiously to-the-letter - emphasizes that aspect, among many other worthwhile attributes. To say that Shakespeare's Globe HENRY IV: Part 1 and Part 2 are the peerless standard for future productions onstage is only half of the praise due this astonishing achievement of theatre-on-film in the 21st century, for this is also the finest film of any of Shakespeare's histories to date. While Branagh's HENRY V has its war-torn moments of glory and some other, more stage-bound iterations - and real, live, actual stage versions on film themselves - have their crumbs of pleasure to enjoy, the value of this series of Shakespeare on film that Shakespeare's Globe has now continued to provide with these three new entries to join the previous three from last year is absolutely immeasurable. This is collection is theatre gold, pure and simple.

With the added bonus of HENRY IV: Part 2 and HENRY VIII (on September 15) movie theater showings still coming up, it's even possible to get the full HD, big-screen, surround- sound, popcorn summer movie experience with a Shakespeare play, so it is the best of all possible worlds. To go to an actual movie theater to take in this superb HD capture of a live Shakespeare play performed by the best in the world, all on a big movie theater screen, is surely as good as it possibly gets for Shakespeare fans, Broadway babies and even theatre neophytes - and, certainly, brings us as close as we can possibly get to the experience of going to the Globe itself and seeing how it Shakespeare is authentically done. Thanks to the elegant and unassuming nature of the filming and editing, coupled with the already A-1 directed and performed stage show being recorded, it is an entertainment lover's special gift overflowing with unforgettable attributes by the virtual cartful - and pub-full. Who knew history - and, for those who are about to have their maiden Shakespearean voyage; Shakespeare - could be this fresh, exciting and fun? And this funny? And this moving? And this fascinating? And, most of all, so applicable and relatable to right here and now to the world we live in today?

Fathers or sons; mothers or daughters; husbands or wives; kings or paupers - this has it all, and applies to all, then or now. Shakespeare's Globe film capture of HENRY IV: Part 1 & Part 2 enriches and enlivens the spiritual and emotional and philosophical spirits within anyone who has the pleasure to view them - just like all of the greatest art does when rendered well. This is Shakespeare not done well, but done best. Bet on it - and don't miss it. You won't soon forget it.