Dakin Matthews (Photo: Hollis King)

Henry IV

By Deirdre Donovan

 

Theatre for a New Audience's (TFANA) revival of Shakespeare's Henry IV opened the 2025 season at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. Directed by Eric Tucker, and in a three-act adaptation written by Dakin Matthews, who also stars in the titular role, this production is heaven-sent.

The fullness of this double drama may be seen in the fact that three of its characters may be viewed as its central character. If we look to Henry IV, he not only is the titular character but has a hefty back story, having deposed and murdered his cousin Richard II. Prince Hal is the protagonist if we view the drama as a preface to Henry V. If we are looking at the comic elements in the play rather than the historical, Sir John Falstaff runs away with the play, lock, stock and barrel.

Before parsing TFANA's production, here's the two-pronged plot in a nutshell: Set in 15^th century London and other locations in Britain, Henry IV, Part 1 follows the young Prince Hal as he struggles between his royal duties and his friendship with the reckless Sir John Falstaff. The play culminates in the Battle of Shrewsbury, where Hal proves his worth by defeating the rebel Hotspur and embracing his responsibilities as heir to the throne. Henry IV, though not in the thick of the action, wrestles with his demons: first and foremost, his conscience stings him for stealing the crown from Richard II; secondly, he confesses that he bemoans the fact that his wastrel son Hal isn't more like the ambitious Henry Percy, nicknamed "Hotspur."

Henry IV, Part 2 continues Hal's journey as he matures into a responsible leader. The play explores themes of leadership, honor, and the consequences of rebellion. Hal's relationship with Falstaff deepens, but he ultimately rejects Falstaff's lifestyle and the knight himself, turning to the Lord Chief Justice to guide him in his new royal duties. Henry IV dies, but not without first lecturing his prodigal son on the challenges of wearing a crown.

TFANA's production is gloriously staged in the round, with actors continually entering and exiting the performing space through the theater aisles. In addition, several actors discreetly sit in the audience, awaiting their cue to spring into action. Not only does this lend the show an element of surprise, but it becomes a full-immersion experience for the audience.

Jay O. Sanders (Photo: Hollis King.)

The acting is superb. Dakin Matthews, in the eponymous role, slips into Henry IV as if it were a second skin. Dressed in a full-length red robe and sumptuous brown brocaded overcoat (costumes by Catherine Zuber and AC Gottlieb), he looks and acts every inch the king from the get-go as he announces to Westmoreland (John Keating) and Warwick (Nigel Gore) in the opening scene that his pilgrimage to the Holy Land must await, given that a new "broil" has broken out among the Welsh rebel factions. Matthews wraps his mouth around Shakespeare's verse with aplomb, making it sound natural and newly minted. In fact, one of the highlights in this double drama is when Matthews, as King Henry, delivers his famous "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" soliloquy. One would have to be a stone not to feel his kingly anguish.

Elijah Jones inhabits Prince Hal with a mix of rebelliousness, bonhomie, and shrewdness. Jones is fresh off his run as Henry V at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which may well be part of the reason he seems so at home playing Hal. Whether Jones' prince is in a tavern drinking with the village lowlife or in his  father's bed chamber prematurely wearing his royal crown, he comes across with charisma.

Jay O. Sanders is well-cast as Sir John Falstaff. Unlike many Falstaffs on stage, Sanders isn't ridiculously plumped out with pillows. Sanders' Falstaff not only manages to be, as the Poet in Timons of Athens would say, "livelier than life," but he's wittier than any other character in the play. Or as the fat knight puts it: "I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men."

Elijah Jones (Photo: Hollis King)

It would be a shame not to mention the fine performances turned in by the rest of the 16-member cast. They all perform like stars in their supporting roles.

Jimmy Stubb's no-frills set allows the actors to move freely through the performing space. Although some of the tavern furniture employed in scenes looks more like the 21^st century than 15^th century, these anachronisms were minor flaws in an otherwise integrated production.

This Henry IV marks the company's completion of exploring Shakespeare's eight-play History Cycle. It serves as a fitting exclamation point to a worthy project.

Henry IV

At the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn.

For information on upcoming productions, visit www.tfana.org

Through March 2.