09 Nov 2010

Henry VIII: Cunning, Betrayal & Lust at the Folger

Courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library

One of the things we take for granted on the Hill is the vast intellectual treasures and historic marvels at our disposal. A visit to The Folger Library’s Elizabethan Theatre for a performance of Shakespeare’s tragic and power-saturated Henry VIII reminded me of both Saturday night. The run of this production of Henry VIII has been extended through November 28, and with good reason.

The performance, enhanced by fantastic set and lighting design, brings the story of the  wife-accumulating monarch to life in a way much richer and challenging than Showtime’s soap opera The Tudors. Well, that’s not hard. But this cast captures the internal conflicts and weighty nature of each character’s choices. Ian Merrill Peakes convincingly portrays the monarch’s conflicting emotions of lust for power, despair, passion and faith so convincingly it  made me think Henry might really have had fears for his soul after being married to his brother’s wife for more than 20 years. Bewitched by Anne Boleyn, (Karen Peakes, Ian’s wife), Henry begins the drama that will be his legacy  and the plot predictably moves through Katherine of Aragon’s trial and death. What’s new is the eerie presence of Henry’s first daughter, Mary.

Director Robert Richmond did not take liberties with the Bard’s play, but merely added to the cast with the backing of historical documents from the Folger’s library. Manuscripts, letters and illustrations from the period informed Richmond’s decision to add the character of Mary, who never speaks, but looks on as her mother is humiliated and sings Latin verse. She also reminds us that there are many betrayals to come during her father’s reign. Mary, played by Megan Steigerwald, watches the action from various vantage points on set and in the theatre, and her enchanting voice  resonates with sadness and doom.

One of the play’s most engaging and downright bawdy characters is Will Sommers, the King’s fool, who serves as a narrator to frame the play and conjures connections between events with magical dust and marionettes. Louis Butelli (who strangely reminds me of Hugh Laurie of TV’s House, but with great knee-high boots and a closet full of accents) flits in and out of scenes, sometimes as Sommers, but more often as Shakespeare’s ancillary characters who so often reveal the humor or severity of the plot. His portrayal of the Old Lady, Anne’s confidant, is very funny, and more so than the laughs a man in drag and a lace mantilla would naturally warrant. His distillation of the story through puppets is a stitch until it isn’t — when he demonstrates the violence inherent in Henry’s quest for an heir.

The cast, outfitted richly in lush period costumes, uses the lighting and sets to convey the constant threat of court’s ever-present risk of treachery and betrayal as they sneak in and out of the shadows. Anthony Chochrane plays the grasping Cardinal Wolsey and wears his funny red hat (a “galero” sayeth Wikipedia) with a pitch perfect blend of cunning, evil and some degree of reverence.

Part of the gift of seeing a play at the Folger is getting to take in the building. Like the Library of Congress’ Adams Building, it’s an architectural treasure we walk by day in and day out. The Great Hall now hosts Vivat Rex!, an exhibit commemorating Henry VIII’s ascension to the thrown. The short intermission isn’t nearly enough time to explore the handwritten letters, manuscripts, rare books and prints that offer an in-depth view of the man who’s choices changed Europe forever.

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