This weekend will be something of a homecoming
for Park Slope resident Kate Ross as she directs Boomerang Theatre
Company’s production of "Henry IV, Part One" in Prospect
Park’s Long Meadow on Saturday and Sunday.
The traveling show opened in Central Park on June 14.
"Henry" is Ross’ first directing gig for Boomerang,
a company known for taking its summer productions from park to
park, throughout the city. Along the way, the 29-year-old actor-turned-director
has learned much. For example, she discovered that even experienced
Shakespearean actors like her Falstaff, Ron Sanborn, have to
drink plenty of water before donning a fat suit in the blazing
city summer heat.
And she learned that machine guns, whatever their virtues on
the battlefield, are simply not "dramatically interesting."
Although Ross and costumer Sidney J. Shannon decided early on
to do the show in contemporary military dress (period clothes
are "too expensive, too hot, and get too dirty" for
outdoor summer theatre), she quickly discovered that contemporary
weaponry was no fun to watch. So it’s all swordplay for the numerous
big battle scenes – with a twist courtesy of fight choreographer
Andrew Blasenak.
"The actual weapons of the time would have been broadswords,
but those are these big honking things," Ross explains.
"So what we decided to do is have different characters have
different weapons depending upon their personality and their
age. We’ve got these excursions where there’s 10 people on stage
fighting with eight different weapons. How do two daggers compete
against a broadsword? It’s pretty cool."
’Cool’ is a word Ross uses often in describing her production,
a testament both to her youthful enthusiasm and her unapologetic
affection for Shakespeare.
"These plays, these texts are just so incredible,"
says Ross, who as an actress has appeared regularly with the
well-regarded Actors Shakespeare Company in Hoboken, N.J. "You
could dive into them and just work on the text of it for a month.
Every time I go back to the page I notice something new."
There’s plenty to notice in "Henry IV," a sweeping
adventure story about an England wracked by civil war, featuring
the young hero, Prince Hal, and his formidable nemesis, Hotspur.
It is a violent, fast-paced and plot-driven play, but one that
also includes some of Shakespeare’s most famous comedic sequences
– thanks to the presence of the cowardly but good-natured oaf
Falstaff.
One reason Ross found herself drawn to "Henry IV, Part One"
was that actors and audiences alike are less familiar with the
show than with popular favorites like "Romeo & Juliet"
and "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."
"We actually get to tell a story," she says.
Ross was also compelled by what she saw as a resonance between
the war-torn landscape of "Henry IV" and our own troubled
times.
"The play starts off with a leader who has come to rule
by a sort of illegitimate means, questioned by many, and has
been besieged by civil wars and dissension in the ranks,"
Ross says. "So to distract everybody he wants to wage a
Holy War in the Middle East."
But at the end of the day, there’s a simple reason Ross elected
to direct this, of all Shakespeare’s work: "Because it’s
good it’s got all of those action-adventure staples – the love
story, the comedy, the tension, the arch-enemies."
Ross must be doing something right: the Boomerang version of
"Part One" is the first in a rush of "Henry’s"
on New York stages. On July 15, Liev Schreiber begins a run as
Prince Hal’s later incarnation, "Henry V," in Central
Park. Lincoln Center is staging a combined "Henry IV, Part
One" and "Part Two" in the fall, while closer
to home the Brooklyn Academy of Music will host director Richard
Maxwell, also doing "Henry IV, Part One" as part of
the Next Wave Festival.
Not surprised by the "Henry" fever, Ross notes that
these histories "used to be among Shakespeare’s most-produced
plays" in this country, and that the tavern scenes between
Hal and Falstaff were particular audience favorites.
Ross hopes a new generation can be swayed by productions like
hers.
"A lot of people have this preconceived notion that they
hate Shakespeare, that it’s just hard, that it’s just boring,"
she says. "I don’t believe any of those things, of course.
But it’s a lot easier to draw someone with scenes like these.
They are just rollickingly funny."
After the Prospect Park performances, "Henry" moves
on to Washington Market Park in TriBeCa, where Ross and company
will encounter a fresh obstacle for their finely tuned fight
sequences.
"It has a gazebo in the middle of the stage area,"
she explains, smiling. "So that’ll be something of a challenge
for us, how to incorporate a very quaint little gazebo."
Boomerang Theatre Company’s production
of "Henry IV, Part One" will be presented July 12 and
July 13 at 2 pm in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow, Third Street
at Prospect Park West. All performances are free. For more information,
call (212) 501-4069 or visit the Web site at www.boomerangtheatre.org.
