This summer the Old Globe Theatre completes its Shakespeare canon by presenting the historical trilogy of "Henry VI," reimagined as a two-part epic called "Henry 6." This ambitious adaptation was conceived by Artistic Director Barry Edelstein.
A "new" play by Shakespeare
"I love the idea that one can think about a play of Shakespeare as a new play," said Edelstein.
And you can because Shakespeare’s "Henry VI" plays are rarely performed.
"We all know Romeo, we all know Hamlet but we don’t know John Talbot," Edelstein explained. "And John Talbot is a spectacularly interesting, wonderful character from Shakespeare's early plays that just doesn't get the attention that Falstaff or Othello gets. And so a sense of discovery about the plays themselves is a huge part of it."
Many might not even be familiar with the historical character of Henry who came to the English throne as a child in the 15th century.
"This kid is just discovering himself and this chair, and he's always uneasy," said actor Keshav Moodliar, who plays Henry. He fidgets in his prop throne as he speaks. "It's just this burden, and he feels that burden every single day. You put on a pair of trousers, which are not your own, and you feel it immediately. You just know, right? And I feel like that's how he is when he's on the throne. Like he can never quite make it fit."
Henry is described as childlike, pious and weak.
"He's very sensitive, and he cares very deeply," Moodliar added. "His weakness, if we can say there is a weakness, is that he's not able to convince the people around him that discourse and conversation and peace, that's the way we can solve these problems. And even saying it now, it breaks my heart, because that's where we're in this country. He wants to talk, and he wants to broker a peace in the truest sense of that."
But under Henry's rule, England is torn by civil war.
"A civil war, between two families, the House of York and the House of Lancaster," Edelstein elaborated. "They are symbolized by roses. The House of York's symbol is a white rose. The House of Lancaster's is a red rose. And that gave rise to the term the War of the Roses."
Moodliar plays Henry to Elizabeth A. Davis’ Margaret, the French woman who became Henry’s queen.
"When I look at Henry, who is called inept and weak, and doesn't do what he's called upon in his charge to do, Margaret on the page is furious about it," Davis said. "Margaret does indeed step into those deficits, and she takes over and becomes, in essence, king, a functional king."
There is a ferociousness to Margaret that earns her the name "She-Wolf of France." But Davis also sees her as a person acting out of necessity and survival.
"There's almost an understanding between Margaret and Henry, that they are doing what the other cannot," Davis added. "And there's fury in that. There's anger in that. There's confusion. There's betrayal in that. On the other side of it, I see a woman desperate to keep her son safe. And to try to keep hold of a kingdom that her husband is unable to bring together. And yes, she maneuvers and brokers in the currency of power. And in such a time, if you didn't have power, might was right. If you didn't have that, you had a scary destiny."
Moodliar sees Henry as someone who would have made a good ambassador or who might have faired better at a different point in history.
"He has a line where he says, 'my crown is in my heart, not on my head.' And I think that does capture him very beautifully in a verse line of, he embodies all those things about leadership and what it means to be a king, but in a way which you can't quite see," Moodliar said.
History repeats itself
Since Henry is perceived as weak and his country struggles with the turmoil of civil war, some saw this as an opportunity to seize power.
"People whose ideas about England are more about their own sense of personal lust for authority and power than about the good of the country," Edelstein said. "When people dispense with a sense of the greater good, a sense of the public good, and look only for their own personal power. Inevitably, chaos and violence results."
That may resonate for audiences today.
"Shakespeare always seems to be 400 years ahead of himself," Edelstein said with a smile. "He always seems to know what's going to happen. We see human archetypes, we see human behaviors, and we say, I still see that going on today."
Moodliar added, "History does repeat itself, unfortunately."
"I don't know if that should horrify us or comfort us," Davis said. "But I think that it speaks to Shakespeare's brilliance. That we are still coming back to the humanity that he gives us or the lack thereof."
Given the political concerns of the plays, they're very interested in the effect of national policy on regular people, and that inspired Edelstein to bring San Diegans literally onto the stage and into the production process in order to create a genuine sense of community engagement.
"So we thought, how do we represent regular citizens in the show? And we used our arts engagement department, which does programming all over San Diego County with nonprofit, community-based organizations to bring community members into the show," Edelstein explained. "So there are about 250 people who will appear on video in the show. There are another five people a night who will have walk on roles in the show. Then there are another 50 or 60 people whose voices are heard either singing or making sound effects on the soundtrack to the show. And then there are hundreds of others who took part in various workshops about set design and costume design and lighting design in the eight or nine months leading up to rehearsal, whose design ideas are now kind of represented in the show. So by the time we open, over 1,000 community members will have participated directly in the making of the show."
Davis added, "And it's absolutely an intoxicating thing to feel as if storytelling is also care for your community."
"This play has touched so many people and so many people have touched this play that the fabric, if it just extends endlessly, and that is that in and of itself is beautiful," said Moodliar.
Discover the beauty of a new play that is 400 years old, and still as fresh and resonant as when Shakespeare wrote it.
