Thursday, June 11, 2009

RTD PREVIEW: "The Bard is Back at Agecroft"


Shakespeare Festival kicks off with “Henry V”
BY MELISSA RUGGIERI TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERPublished: June 11, 2009

Richmond Shakespeare Festival Productions: "Henry V" (tonight-June 28); "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (July 2-12); "Hamlet" (July 16-Aug. 2) Where: Agecroft Hall, 4305 Sulgrave Road. Gates open at 7 p.m., and the Festival Young Company entertains on the grounds; all performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets: http://www.richmondshakespeare.com/ or 1-866-227-3849

With a trio of productions this summer and only three more months until its new permanent indoor home, Richmond CenterStage, is ready, the folks at Richmond Shakespeare are understandably excited.

On his desk, Artistic Director Grant Mudge even has a mini version of the CenterStage countdown clock currently facing Broad Street.
But before that fall season launches -- it will mark the 25th year of Richmond Shakespeare -- its popular summer shows on the grounds of Agecroft Hall will commence tonight.

This season, the group is tackling "Henry V," "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Hamlet," which Mudge is also directing.
Last year, "Henry IV, Part 2," was the centerpiece production. Mudge said the cycle of Shakespeare's histories will be completed by 2012.
"The stories are universal," he said of Shakespeare's ongoing appeal. "They're personal stories, personally told, and doing them at Agecroft really is something special. It's 500 years old and came from England, so we play in the courtyard just as Elizabethan actors would."

Starring in the role of King Henry in "Henry V" is London-born actor Phil Brown, who played Prince Hal the past two summers in "Henry IV, Part 1" and "Part 2."

Brown came to Richmond two years ago after being recruited by director James Bond -- who also is helming this year's "Henry" -- and the self-described "Shakespeare geek" said playing King Henry is tricky yet rewarding.

"When Shakespeare was writing 'Henry V,' one of his challenges was that he was writing about the king, the be all and end all of great kings. He had two tasks: to present the king in a way that wouldn't get him into trouble with Elizabeth and also to write a real human character facing real problems," Brown said last week.

"In 'Henry V,' the crown almost acts like a mask. The prince becomes the man, and the man has to deal with the responsibilities of the crown. In that respect, it's very complex, because you're trying to find where the voice is the king and where the voice is the prince and where to find the human balance."

Brown trained for three years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where he participated in many Shakespearean workouts.
"A good drama school training gives you the solid foundation, and every professional play you do after that, you learn more as you go along," said Brown, who, along with the rest of the cast, has been rehearsing the past five weeks, including rigorous fight scenes.

"Our choreographer, Vanessa [Passini], has been putting us all through our paces with sword drills," Brown said. "Hopefully, fingers crossed, the sword fighting will look quite cool."

Though Brown and his wife, Emily, plan to move back to New York at the end of the summer, he is still looking forward to CenterStage opening.
"Hopefully, once it's established, it's the kind of thing that breeds more art, essentially," he said.

But for the next couple of weeks, the only art Brown will be concentrating on his nightly portrayal of Henry.

"James [Bond, the director] says that Shakespeare is the most muscular form of theater," Brown said. "It kind of forces you to use your technique more than anything else. I believe if you can do Shakespeare well, you can do anything well."

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