The Old Globe Theatre attempted to mount its production of Shakespeare’s "Henry VI" plays before the pandemic. COVID-19 disrupted its plans, but now the epic history plays are coming to life as the "Henry 6 Project," adapted and directed by Barry Edelstein, the theatre's artistic director.
He said this summer's plays are not merely the staging of the Bard's history trilogy in an exciting new format.
"We are producing Shakespeare's three plays, 'Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III,' which will complete the Shakespeare canon at the Old Globe. And finally, nine decades later, we're getting around to the last three. So that's a big deal for us," Edelstein said. "It's a wonderful feeling of completion. Shakespeare's our house playwright, our institution is named after his theater, and there's just a wonderful feeling of pride about it."
The plays tell one story of the reign of English King Henry VI in the 15th century, during which there was a civil war between two families — the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
Edelstein, who is a Shakespeare scholar in addition to his creative roles at the Globe, condensed the three history plays down to two. One of the things that excites him about "Henry 6" is that it is like producing a brand new work, because very few people in San Diego have probably even seen the plays and very few companies have produced them.
"And what I love about the plays is that you can see Shakespeare attempting an idea that, because I know his works, he will realize more successfully five, six or 10 years later as a writer," Edelstein said. "So there are scene templates in these 'Henry VI' plays that turn out to be a scene in 'Othello' or a scene in 'As You Like It' or a scene in, you know, 'Henry V' that he hasn't quite solved. On the other hand, there is an enormous amount of thrilling stuff. There are all these great characters. Margaret is one of the great female characters in Shakespeare. (There's) Henry himself. There's this character named Sir John Talbot, who's this great chivalric knight, sort of mega soldier."
What you get in these plays is a young artist trying to make a name for himself.
"This is a guy who's trying to make an impression," Edelstein added. "And so I'm going to do a battle scene, and then I'm going to do a comedy scene right next to it. Then I'm going to have some supernatural spirits show up, and then I'm going to have some extraordinary political rhetoric, and then I'm going to throw a love scene in there just because. And it's this sense of, 'Look at me, watch me flex my muscles as a writer and do these audacious things,' which gives the production and the plays themselves this great energy and this great sort of youthful exuberance, which I have hugely enjoyed."
The "Henry 6 Project" also has a huge community outreach component, which I will delve into next month.
The "Henry 6" plays kicks off preview performance on June 30 with the pair of plays running through Sept. 15.
