My friend and noted poet, Peter M. Gordon, reviewed Henry VI at Orlando Shakes in Winter Park on January 10, 2025.
Why Henry VI, part 2? For the Fun of it!
by Peter M. Gordon
January 10 – This latest installment of the Shakes’ history play cycle, Henry VI, Part 2, is a rollicking good time. The play, one of Shakespeare’s earliest efforts, includes a crowd-pleasing number of illicit love affairs, intrigue, sword fights, and beheadings, as various nobles try to take the throne from pious and weak (the program’s description) Henry VI. But there’s also a lot of great comedy, audience interaction, and performances from a talented cast that’s clearly having a great time living their lives in Shakespeare’s poetry and prose.
I could describe the plot in detail, but there wouldn’t be much point. Suffice it to say there’s more court intrigue, battles, and double dealing than in a typical episode of Game of Thrones. There are no dragons, but there are witches and pirates. There’s also a lot of funny scenes, made sharper by contrast with the dramatic scenes. I laughed a lot more than I expected.
The Shakes folks do a fine job through Jim Helsinger’s pre-show video, the online program, posters on theatre walls, and in a live prologue to help the audience members keep track of who’s who in the story and where we are in the century-long War of the Roses. But it’s possible to have a great evening in the theatre without knowing anything about English history or even Shakespeare’s work.
This is one of Orlando Shakes’ “Bare Bard” productions, meant to mimic the way plays were produced in Shakespeare’s day. There was no director or designer. The actors rehearsed for no more than 40 hours prior to the first performance, chose their costumes from whatever the Shakes had in storage, and developed their own characterizations, blocking, and stage business. When they enter the house each audience member is given a choice of a red rose sticker for Lancaster, white rose for York, or a Big Beer for the Jack Cade-led rebels. When characters shout White Rose, Red Rose, or Big Beer, everyone cheers for their team.
Lights come on at the start of each act and fade out at the end, which makes it easy for the cast to interact with the audience. Because of the lack of rehearsal, a prompter is upstage right throughout the show, ready to feed lines to any actor who calls “prithee,” which one did during the performance I saw. Before the play starts, the cast comes on stage in costume to explain what we are going to see, reinforcing the fact that they are actors doing a play, and both cast and audience are part of the action.
The play needs that sort of approach. There’s a reason this play is produced much less than Shakespeare’s most famous plays like Hamlet, MacBeth, and Romeo and Juliet. You won’t find many well-known lines – the most famous is “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” – but if you’re a Shakespeare fan, it’s a treat to see one of his plays where you don’t know what will happen.
The cast of nineteen acts superbly. They all play multiple parts except for Trevor Spence as Henry VI and Roberta Emerson as Queen Margaret. (the She Wolf of the title). Paul Bernardo as Gloucester, the Lord Protector, and Jack Cade, the leader of the peasant rebellion, was particularly commanding. At one point, during Cade’s particularly long death scene, Bernardo plopped into an empty seat in the first row, declaiming his lines to a surprised and pleased audience member.
Brandon Roberts infuses two different but villainous characters, The Cardinal and Dick the Butcher, with just the right amount of evil energy and manages to make them completely different. Paige Mason manages to make the Duchess Eleanor, Somerset’s wife’s fall from grace heartbreaking. And Roberta Emerson shows the suffering person behind a character often portrayed as a cartoon villainess.
I’d particularly like to praise K.P. Powell’s work as the Duke of Suffolk, Queen Margaret’s lovers and one of the most devious intriguers against King Henry, Dominique Marshall’s hilarious and bloodthirsty Pirate Captain, Timothy Williams’ revenge-seeking Duke of York, and Trevor Spence’s portrayal of Henry VI. Spence provides the subtext that makes the King a good man trying to do the right thing in a bad world.
Fight Director Benjamin Reigel created some inventive battle scenes in the limited rehearsal time. Special mention should be made of Stage Manager Claire D. Tolzien, who, in the absence of a director, must have been particularly organized to keep the Bare Bard production on track.
The comedy, the drama, and the emotion the cast creates is thrilling and fun like a good roller coaster ride. The play’s only open through January 19, so get your tickets soon. After the fun I had with this show I look forward to next year’s Henry VI, Part 3 – The Rise of Richard.