News

Behind The Curtain: Lunchtime Theatre - Henry IV Part 1

October 3, 2014

What a fabulous week so far. We have been thrilled to perform Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, directed by my co-producer, Michael Yale, as part of St. James Studio’s Lunchtime Theatre program. This is our first ever lunchtime run. Among other things, it has been so exciting to see the (somewhat paradoxical) growth of the play as we adapted it for a smaller stage, shorter running time and new auditorium.

Taking inspiration from the First Folio edition of the play and its original title, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of HENRY Surnamed HOT-SPVRRE, we looked at the importance that young Henry Percy (Hotspur) and his family have to the story. We realised that we could indeed tell this core story with just 5 characters: King Henry, Prince Hal, Falstaff, Hotspur and Lady Percy as ‘The Percy Family’. In having Lady Percy represent the entire Percy family, taking the lines of Northumberland and Worcester as well as her own, we could also then create a powerful fifth, female role.

Our version is set in a modern corporate environment, where Shakespeare’s game of thrones plays out as a brutal battle of the boardroom. This concept comes from some of the play’s core themes—leadership challenges, dealing with change and transition, and the need to cultivate allies. In today’s globalised world we see the power that once resided in the hands of Kings and Nobles residing in the CEOs of large, multinational corporations.

Our next task was transferring a play set for a large stage and with a pre-established set to the more intimate space of the studio. This was especially a challenge given the number of quite fast-paced and visceral fights in the play which were choreographed previously, and the general physical nature of the piece. The effect of shortening the fights and focusing the moves has been to heighten the impact of the climax – not least because of the proximity of the audience to the actors and the booming resonance of sound as it reflects off the stage and back wall. Today there was more than one gasp from the crowd as Hotspur and Hal met in their final showdown.

As an actor I have discovered I love performing in Lunchtime Theatre. There is something somehow warming and friendly in hearing a wave of sandwich wrappers rustling as the lights go down, as the audience rush to open their lunches before the show starts. I like the feel that the audience are relaxed and comfortable in the space, that this show is for them in their breaks or midday outings, and they are free to enjoy the story that’s about to unfold. It breaks the myth that theatre (especially Shakespeare) is somehow ‘stuffy’ or only for a certain slice of society, and brings it into the ‘everyday’ - where it should be.

Producer Lyndall Grant