Word: ast
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Last summer, the American Shakespeare Theater's new artistic director, Peter Coe, chose Henry V to inaugurate his tenure and was lucky enough to enlist the formidable Christropher Plummer for the title role. Coe is kicking off this season with the second play in the sequence, which the AST has not offered for 20 years...
...pair of up stage stairs and down stage floor-traps and a few basis pieces of furniture that can be raised or lowered instantaneously. This allows for maximum fluidity and Coe has taken good advantage of it. Chapman's costumes sometimes smack of the bargain basement, but the AST is counting pennies these days in order to survive Mare B. Weiss back here for the 18th time, has helped the production enormously with his mood-enhancing lighting...
...known theory; when in doubt, shout. There are better ways to convey pride, strength, and fearlessness. All this is regrettable, for Hotspur is penned as a virtuoso of language. I kept getting the impression that Walken was rehearsing for Stanley Kowalski and repeatedly wandered onto the wrong set. (The AST's 1962 mounting of this play had similar problems with a Hotspur played by Hal Holbrook...
...therefore a real coup for Coe to entice Plummer (whose Macbeth he directed years ago) back to the AST after a 26-year absence. While the historical Henry V ascended the throne at 26, Plummer is today roughly twice that age (51 or 53, depending on your source). It would be idle to expect him to recapture that youth for which the French dauphin insults Henry with a present of tennis balls. With more than a dozen important Shakespearean parts under his belt, not to mention other major classical roles. Plummer remains at the height of his phenomenal vocal control...
...AST's production of 'Henry V' continues in Stratford through August 2. The drive to the AST grounds on the Housatonic River takes about two and three-quarter hours at legal speeds, via the Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 86 and 91, and the Connecticut Turnpike to Exit 32 or 31. Performances in the air-conditioned theatre tend to start promptly at 2 and 8 o'clock. There are facilities for picnickers on the premises...