Summary 
An outdoor production played indoors due to rain, with vivid costuming that enhances the tight focus on Hal's relationship with Falstaff and the contrast of his character with Hotspur's. A sympathetic and robust portrayal of Sir John highlights the production with endearing physical humor, making the necessary rejection at its conclusion all the more poignant.
Design
Directed by John Sipes. Costumes by Nancy Pope. Sets and lights by J. William Ruyle. Sound by David Zerlin. Fights by John Sipes.
Cast
Casondra Campbell (Lady Mortimer), Darrel Ford (Northumberland/Glendower), Keytha Graves (Lady Percy), Ted deChatelet (Hal), Brian Herriott (Poins/Douglas), David Kortemeier (Henry IV), Robert Kropf (Westmoreland/Mortimer), Philip Thompson (Worchester), Patrice Wilson (Mistress Quickly), Randy Reinholz (Hotspur), Steve Young (Falstaff), Tim Griffin (Bardolph).
Analysis
This production of 1 Henry IV begins with the conclusion of Richard II (5.6), as a repentant King Henry kneels in prayer beside the coffin of the deposed and murdered Richard. Director John Sipes, also the Festival's artistic director, disclosed in a press conference that he would have the King portrayed as suffering "the curse of the usurper" in civil, political, and personal terms. Henry's court is an open area featuring a throne in front of two large wood-paneled doors and two ramps that lead down into the audience from each side of the stage. The court is densely populated with soldiers, advisers, and courtiers, all standing silently, their heads bowed while their King prays. The solemn silence is broken, however, by celebratory dancehall music. Two black-clad puppeteers dance mockingly through either side of the audience and onto the stage. The puppeteers carry likenesses of Prince Hal and Falstaff, but are not responded to by Henry or his court. The puppets cavort and carouse, held aloft on poles over the head of the King, drunkenly kissing each other and drinking from mugs. The bizarre puppet show evokes the torment of Henry's personal and political nightmare: the troublesome conduct of the Prince of Wales.
Sound effects heighten the contrast between the court and tavern sequences. King Henry and the rebels are earnest and antagonistic, and their scenes begin with the pulsing pound of martial drumbeats. Conversely, the Boar's Head scenes are playful bacchanalia accompanied by clamorous tavern music. For the pub scenes, the throne is removed, and the polished, heavy doors are swung open. The insides of the doors represent the battered tavern walls, and the above gallery is revealed, well-stocked with several barrels of sack beneath the Boar's Head shingle. A wheeled platform slides out between then doors, carrying a large table and several chairs to center stage. For the initial tavern scene in 1.2, the platform slides into view with Falstaff asleep atop the table, his enormous belly extending above him.
Steve Young depicts Sir John as a thunderously playful hedonist. His frequent shouts of "give me a cup of sack" are answered by one of the tavern ladies opening the spout on a barrel that overhangs from the gallery; Falstaff fills his upraised mug from the stream of "sack" with joyous splashing. At one juncture, frustrated by rebukes from Hal and Poins, he places his mouth directly beneath the flow and soaks his face, his hair, and the floor around him. Then, before responding to the Prince and the others, he shakes his dripping head at them like a dog trying to dry itself, scattering them with the spray.
Young's Falstaff is literally as well as figuratively colorful: he sports white leggings and mustard-brown boots, long baggy shorts, and a cream-colored shirt beneath a black-belted, orange-fringed, grass-green tunic. Buffoonish in both appearance and demeanor, Falstaff is white-bearded but bald on top, and he possesses greasy gray hair that protrudes sideways from his scalp. Sir John's clever wordplay is enhanced by Young's ample - and endearing - physical humor: Falstaff dominates nearly every scene with rolling eyes, smacking lips, wiggling fingers, waving arms, bouncing hips, and affected voices. Young's sympathetic portrayal is composed of cerebral and physical humor rather than pathos or Machiavellian power-seeking. This Falstaff is fun-loving rather than money-grubbing, explanatory instead of apologetic for his immoral behavior, genuinely fond of Hal rather than manipulative of him, and simply carefree and eager to remain carefree once his companion becomes King.
As illustrated by the high spirits of the robbery on Gad's Hill, Falstaff embodies the lighthearted but irresponsible lifestyle to which Prince Hal clings. Peto, Gadshill, and Bardolph enter from different areas, each creeping nervously backward, visibly frightened. They converge at center stage, bumping into one another from behind, and with terrified howls, they scare each other from the stage. Once re-gathered by Falstaff, they flee again in panic as the travelers approach, one of them sliding wildly down the ramp at stage-right. To "assault" the travelers, Falstaff propels the hideously ugly Bardolph into their midst, and they - as well as Bardolph - scream in slapstick terror. The travelers are then loosely encircled with rope and, amid much shouting, bustled down a ramp and through the audience. The exultant robbers return whooping through the audience, clutching their bags of gold. Hal and Poins, hiding in the gallery, then effortlessly re-rob the thieves, routing them with a mere "boo."
Multi-colored costumes contribute to the jubilance of the tavern scenes. Hal and Poins are similarly attired in white tights and black boots, but Poins wears a light blue tunic and Hal a crimson doublet with gold trim. Bardolph, like Falstaff, is quite colorful: gap-toothed and with a clownishly round and red nose, Bardolph wears a kerchief tight over his hair like a skull-cap and sports cut-off brown shorts over tights - one leg black, one leg white - and a black-and-white striped shirt under a ginger tunic. In contrast, the rebels and the King's court are dark in appearance and dour in demeanor. Hotspur wears black leggings and boots with a brown tunic over a billowing black shirt. Hotspur provides a physical as well as thematic foil for the colorful gaiety of Falstaff, as he is small but rugged with a full head of dark hair.
The frenetic Hotspur is almost constantly in motion. His fervor contrasts with the portrayals of his father Northumberland, who is slow-moving and elderly, hardly able to stand when addressed by the King, and his treacherous uncle Worchester is soft-spoken but measured and clipped in speech. During a 1.3 Hotspur diatribe, Worchester shoves his nephew into a chair to calm him, severing the "Boling" from the "broke" in Hotspur's heated speech. The previous scene, during which Hotspur justifies his refusal to surrender prisoners to the King, reveals both his lofty sense of honor and the respect the court has for him. As Hotspur rails against the perfumed, snuff-sniffing gentleman who came to the battlefield seeking tribute, he singles out a courtier seated near the King. The slender courtier is clad in powder blue, daintily pinching from a pouncet box before realizing Hotspur is ridiculing him. He exits in a huff, to the amusement of the entire court, including the King.
Hotspur's zeal for the rebellion is evidenced in his 2.2 scene with Lady Percy. Bare-chested beneath a golden velvet robe, he prowls the stage impatiently and exits hurriedly when Kate fails first to seduce him then keep him home by tackling him. The effect of this zeal on his personal life is revealed in the Glendower scene that begins this production's second half. The scene is set with purple drapery covering the doors at center stage, candelabra at stage-left, and an animal-skin rug covering much of the floor. Swirling smoke from burning incense drifts across the stage as the rebels gather at stage-right to divide England among them. Hotspur's failure to bring the map is resolved by the enigmatic Glendower, who removes his cape in dramatic fashion, exhibiting with a flourish a detailed map embroidered inside. In a poignant moment, Mortimer and his wife share a long kiss as Hotspur exits alone to prepare for combat, wounded by Kate's refusals to sing for him. Glendower slowly crosses the stage and snuffs the candles, quietly exhorting Mortimer to also ready himself for battle. Once the men have gone, Kate joins Lady Mortimer at center stage, and they sadly watch after their departing husbands. The lights slowly fade, and the wives are left in darkness, subtly presaging that neither man will be coming back.
Despite the flamboyance of Falstaff and the magnetism of Hotspur, the Prince of Wales remains the nucleus of this production. Sipes focuses on Hal's life-decision, with the influences of Falstaff and Hotspur in diametrical opposition to one another. Hal is presented as being torn by responsibility from the recklessness of his youth. His tavern scenes are boisterous, and he and Falstaff are crowded onstage by Poins and Bardolph, Peto and Gadshill, and the Mistress with her tavern ladies. When the 2.4 scene is interrupted by the arrival of a messenger from the King, however, Hal separates himself from the others and approaches the audience. He now appears serious and deeply burdened. The subsequent mock interview of "king" and "prince" is intensified by the laughter and shouting slowly dying into dramatic silence as Hal, as the King, denounces Falstaff. Hal's climactic "I do, I will" line is spoken pointedly, and the peripheral characters sadly bow their heads in the sudden quiet, which is then broken by the loud knocking of the Sheriff. Hal's absurd concealment of Falstaff - in a chair under a coat - and Falstaff's comic indignance at the Sheriff's description of him, are humorous but considerably dampened by the preceding rejection.
The stage is silent and empty during Hal's appearance before King Henry, and it is barren except for the King's chair. Hal kneels, facing the King, his back to the audience. Henry, portrayed in early scenes as shaken and as wan as his nation, now becomes impressively impassioned. His voice breaks and he falters as he rebukes Hal. The Prince sinks to his haunches beneath the censure, but he rises again to his knees, then stands and declares his personal vow to quell the rebellion.
Sipes' already quick pace is accelerated for the production's culmination in the Shrewsbury battle scenes. The Percy faction is shown at stage-right, huddled over a map, and when not active, they are "frozen" in darkness, then re-lit for their speeches, thereby eliminating time lost to scene changes and entrances and exits. The Percys wear black and silver cloth caps and striking, multi-colored scarves, while the King's men, opposite at stage-left, wear metallic grey, with helmets and chainmail. Falstaff's presence is jarring - though still significant, especially for Hal - the knight being clearly out of his element on a battlefield. His hair is squashed inside a too-small helmet, and he is driven by Bardolph to the stage in an ox-cart. He waddles about armed with a sausage and a loaf of bread, at one point pulling up a chair to discuss honor with the audience.
The battlefield stage is lit in hazy midnight blue, and the battle itself is dramatically torch-lit. Cardboard cutouts of combat sequences are placed at either side of the stage, which swirls with smoke, brightened by pyrotechnic flashes from fireworks. Excursions are limited to two encounters, both enacted in slow motion but quick to reach conclusion: first, the King struggles with Douglas and falls, but is saved by an onslaught from Hal; then the Prince defeats Hotspur, as Falstaff is seen fleeing Douglas and comically feigning a mortal wound. The production's final image reveals the pervasiveness of Falstaff and his influence upon the Prince, even after Hal has rejected him and vowed to serve his father. The King and Hal huddle together at center stage, exhausted but victorious; suddenly appearing above them in the gallery is Falstaff, with the dead Hotspur cradled in his arms like a prize, the fat old knight's eyes wide and his tongue wagging mischievously.
Note: A version of this article was edited and published in Shakespeare Bulletin, Vol.12, No.4, Fall 1994.