Review: HENRY VI, PART III: THE RISE OF RICHARD at Orlando Shakes
Orlando Shakes' scrappy, sophisticated storytelling proves all you really need is a script and a bit of "Bare Bard" brilliance.
The historical tragedy playing out on stage at The Orlando Shakes right now is unlike anything I’ve seen there in the past, and not simply because of the content. As part of their “Fire and Reign” series (chronicling The Hundred Years’ War and the War of the Roses through Shakespeare’s plays) Henry VI Part III is also presented in a unique style atypical of what you’d expect from a large-scale historical tragedy rife with battles and murder. Orlando Shakes has gone their “Bare Bard” route here, providing the company of actors the text, a spartan stage, one week to rehearse, and precious little else. (Company members joked that they were given one hour to rummage through the costume shop to clothe themselves.) While this may seem hokey or gimmicky, it quite closely adheres to how tropes of actors would have prepared this material for audiences when Shakespeare originally penned it 400 years ago. A compressed production timeline with no director and no designers truly exposes the company and the audience to Shakespeare’s words. No house music; no underscoring. Just pure bard.
Upon entering the theatre, audience members are handed a sticker with either a red or a white rose on it, sigils of House Lancaster and York, respectively. It’s a fun way to further involve the audience in a production that already feels as though the audience is in on the whole thing to begin with. While awaiting the start of the show, it became increasingly apparent how contextual this play is, heavily contingent on the plot (and historical events) of the plays that come before. Like the hallmark of any Les Miserables production, the program features a synopsis of the play’s events - though with the flurry of names and titles, the usefulness wasn’t quite apparent until, perhaps, intermission. If it’s any indication as to the complexity of what’s going on here, this synopsis is followed by a two-page spread detailing the history between Houses York and Lancaster, a detailed family tree, and an informational chart (with actor headshots) describing the character’s relationships to one another. Combined with a pre-show “catch-up” video from Artistic Director Jim Helsinger and a quick recap from the company, it’s all enough to give anyone slight pause, worrying that their prerequisite homework wasn’t done.
Thankfully, the company is one of extremely skilled storytellers. The characterizations that most convey are deeply impressive given the quick rehearsal turnaround. Trevor Spence’s Henry VI is a woefully ill-equipped leader that is clearly out of his depth amongst stronger and more experienced men with a nervous energy throughout. Chris Lindsay is a terrifyingly single-minded Clifford hell-bent on revenge, and Anne Hering is absolutely hysterical throughout a mixed bag of supporting roles, particularly in Act II. Mark McClain Wilson does an absolutely fantastic job of leaning into his supporting role as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, settling into his villainy and giving us a haunting glimpse of what’s to come as he reigns in 2027’s RICHARD III in the evening’s final moments.
The most compelling pieces of this production, however, are the performances coming out of Timothy Williams (York/Somerset), and Roberta Emerson (Queen Margaret). Their confrontation in Act I is inarguably the most electric moment of the evening and one of the most arresting things I’ve seen on an Orlando stage in recent memory. It’s made even more impressive when one remembers once again that they only had one week to rehearse it. Emerson’s Margaret has an icy demeanor throughout, reminiscent of Lady Macbeth - she all but tells Henry to screw his courage to the sticking place - but she gets another emotional swing at our guts with the visceral mourning of her child in Act II, and it’s nothing short of riveting.
As the plot unfolds, and the players’ faces become familiar, the weight of following the events seems to lessen; it’s easy enough to understand that everyone wants their guy on the throne. When the political machinations, scheming, marriages, and familial claims start to fly, however, things can still get hard to follow. (Use that chart with the headshots!) Characters’ allegiances change, people are killed, and battles are waged, won, and lost. More than once I was reminded of Game of Thrones; in fact, Shakespeare’s collection of historical plays followed by Orlando Shakes’ Fire and Reign series very well may be the Elizabethan precursor to George R. R. Martin’s success. (Of course, without the dragons.) Much like in Thrones, it can be easy to forget the human cost of the conflict between powerful people, as thousands fall in battle off-stage for the ego of a few royals; but Shakespeare skillfully reminds us of what is at stake with a heart-wrenching pair of scenes between fathers and sons on opposite sides of the war near the end of the first act.
If one of the thrills of live theatre is its evanescence, then Henry VI Part III takes that to another extreme. Orlando Shakes dials up the stakes with the self-imposed “Bare Bard” limitations placed on this production, and it is much to the benefit of the play and to the delight of the audience. How is it possible that they rehearsed this in a week? Will any of the actors go up on a line and need to call “prithee” to the prompter on-book? Who will make a new acting choice tonight? Who will discover a new dimension to their character? Will any audience members get too excited about the “Red Rose / White Rose” participation calls? It’s dangerous; it’s exciting. Constraint is often times the mother of artistic invention and brilliance. Orlando Shakes has captured that beautifully.
Sitting amidst the audience in a theatre where the house lights are mercifully left up (don’t forget the importance of the program reference materials), watching actors with no set, minimal costumes, and speaking in a near-foreign language, we’re reminded that at its heart, theatre is about storytelling. Perhaps it sounds saccharine, but coming off of a weekend in New York City featuring The Lost Boys and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, this “Bare Bard” production of Henry VI Part III is a palette cleanser to a theatre purist’s soul, a scrappy and somehow nostalgic reminder that all you need is some friends and a script to tell a story.
After all: the play’s the thing.
HENRY VI, PART III: THE RISE OF RICHARD runs at the Orlando Shakes through April 19. For tickets, visit the link below or call the box office at (407) 447-1700.
Photos courtesy of Orlando Shakes.
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