The supporting cast steps forward: 2H4
By 3 pm everyone had rushed back for the start of the third play of the cycle, the second of the day, and we continued with 2H4. I must say that David Warner’s Falstaff is growing on me, I really liked his performance in this one, which is fortunate considering that this is pretty much Falstaff’s play. It’s more of an ensemble piece than 1H4, and it turned into a real opportunity for the supporting players to shine, and did they ever! One brilliant performance after another, as the play allowed them the chance to step into focus for the audience.
There was Chris McGill’s expertly measured interpretation of the cold and crafty John of Lancaster, Nick Asbury as an outstanding Pistol, Maureen Beattie shining on as Mistress Quickly, excellent work from Chuk Iwuji, and strong turns for even the tiniest of parts, such as Katy Stephens as Feeble. Unfortunately I didn’t find Streatfeild’s Hal any more compelling this time round, even if the last scenes were better, and I do wonder what his H5 will be like, as little has so far suggested that his Hal/H5 has the strength and power that I would expect to see for that part. But we shall soon see.
The ghost theme was back with a vengeance, so to speak, as Rumour, played by Forbes Masson who was Bagot in R2, opened the play by dragging R2’s coffin onto the stage, from which the blood-soaked king rose and slowly exited the stage. Later, when the ailing H4 has had a sleepless night, he is faced with the silent figure or Rumour/Bagot, quickly followed by the ghost of R2, who walks up to him as a stream of sand starts to fall from the ceiling onto H4. This same imagery was used in R2, where the deposed king was engulfed by the same falling sand, evoking associations of “the sands of time”, here as then indicating that the king’s time is about to come to an end.
Alas, time’s too short for a longer post, as I need to get some sort of dinner, not to mention about a bucketful of coffee, but this one felt much more solid and together than the previous play, and I hope that today’s upwards spiral continues on with H5, which will be followed by a longer post, possibly elaborating further on 2H4 if I find that I in my haste forgot to bring up some really major points. Until later.
//Jenny
