Henry VI (National Asian American Theatre Company)

[JBroadway]

I went to see both parts of this production in the same day, and I really enjoyed the experience.

It's basically all 3 of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays, but they're trimmed down and portioned out over the course of two parts (a la Angels in America or Cursed Child). The total runtime is a little under 6 hours, but for me it totally flew by! The staging is dynamic and engaging, making great use of a relatively small space. The design elements are also great (though a couple of the costumes choices struck me as a bit odd). The entirely Asian-American cast is uniformly strong as well. 

It's not an innovative production, per se: the staging feels modern and fresh, but they mostly just do the plays straight - as in, they don't attempt to re-interpret or re-focus the text in any way. That didn't really bother me though because these plays are pretty plot-heavy, and they are so rarely produced, so they don't really call for as much heavy interpretation as something like Hamlet. 

For those of you who might be intimidated by a whole day (or 2 long evenings) of Shakespeare history plays, I'd say give it a shot anyway. There's a helpful video infographic in the lobby, plus lots of info on the internet to prepare. And these plays are packed with exciting drama, full of twists and turns, plus lots of battles. They are anything but dull. 

Has anyone else here seen it yet? Curious to hear others' thoughts. Looks like they're running for a couple more weeks. 

[MrJNLong]

I saw it last week with a group of 40 teenage theatre students.

I recommend it.  Its rare to see these plays, and they are done well here.

Shakespeare's Part 1 is significantly less brilliant than his Parts 2 & 3 (some scholars believe he didn't even write a lot of Part 1), and they wisely get through all of it before the first intermission in this production. But it still makes for a slow start.  At that first intermission, I had to keep assuring the kids that it gets a lot better. And sure enough, by the time the intermission of the second play arrived, they were completely enthralled and sitting on the edge of their seats.  They ended up loving the experience and there were some genuinely magical moments of connection between them and the cast during that second play.  It was kind of cool to experience.

But ya, I recommend the production. A bold undertaking that is executed quite well. I was especially pleased that they did not cut the Jack Cade rebellion, which is one of those sequences that makes me fairly certain Shakespeare owned a crystal ball and could see America's political situation right now.

[seahag2]

why aren't more people talking about this amazing production

[A Director]

seahag2 said: "why aren't more people talking about this amazing production "

 1.Because most people who post here only care about musicals.

 2. It's Shakespeare.

 3. Most people don't know Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3.

 

[jbird5]

I only saw the first part which is the weaker of the two. The actors all seem to have impressive credits. Vanessa Kai was in KPOP at the same site. There is a lot of gender swapping and doubling which adds some confusion to an already confusing scenario.

They do seem to have made some edits here. Joan seems much more sympathetic here than in the actual play - she was the enemy after all. The first play is generally considered a collaboration. Some of the Shakespeare scenes are obvious- he never quite knows how to end a scene and they drag on a little more than necessary for the plot. All in all it’s slot of Shakespeare to take in at once - and how the actors remember all the dialogue is astounding. I may go back for the second part. It was available through TDF.

[jbird5]

Saw the second part. Definitely the more lively of the two. “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers”. And most everyone else for that matter. The beginning (Cade’s rebellion) is scarily contemporary. It’s more confusing than Game of Thrones but mostly based on true events. This sh*t really happened. Margaret of Anjou is a terrific part for anybody. There are no real heroes here, everyone deserves what’s coming to him/her (except poor Rutland and possibly Henry). One more week to see this. Crazy Rich Asians of the 15th century!