The iconic thespian’s fall from the stage during Player Kings West End run was as dramatic as the confirmation that he would not be appearing at the Bristol Hippodrome for the play’s first stop on its tour was disappointing.
But while many, including myself, were certainly interested because of his name recognition, there was still an able cast of extremely talented actors, including Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh, ready to perform both parts of Shakespeare’s Henry IV condensed into a near four-hour show by Robert Icke.
Although the setting and costumes have been modernised, the play retains Shakespeare’s iconic turns of phrase, which can be a little trying if, like me, you were not perhaps at your brightest mentally, but that is more my fault than the production’s.
Thankfully as soon as the performers started working their magic, the cobwebs fell off my brain a little and I soon started to ease into what was happening though still found it a little hard to follow at times.
First of all, I really enjoyed the staging and set, comprised of a clever letterboxed box with a series of curtains that allowed for efficient and simplistic scene changes and also created a surprisingly effective amount of depth accentuated by some imaginative flourishes, like a wall exploding and an apple tree looming into view from overhead.
It should also be no surprise that David Semark, an accomplished actor in his own right, who was given the unenviable task of filling the rather large shoes of Sir Ian McKellen as one of the Bard’s most well-known comic characters, John Falstaff, simply rose to the occasion magnificently.
Often the butt of the joke, and constantly jostling to achieve some personal gain or verbally wrangling his way out of tricky spots, Semark’s Falstaff is a truly delightful and funny performance, providing a constant source of levity amidst the seriousness of the play’s backdrop.
A headlight-lit opening and the pre-interval battle and fight are standout scenes because they deviate from a lot of the calmer and wordier moments and provide stark tone and volume shifts to grab the attention – at times this is much needed because try-as-you-might not to let it, the lengthy runtime does take its toll.
Some meandering moments in the second half, particularly of scenes that appear a little too obscure to fit into the story of young Hal’s path to the crown amid a civil war and turmoil, also exacerbated this issue.
But the real strong scenes still ring out true, quiet tender character moments, deaths punctuated by a beautiful choral interlude, explosions and gunfire, and Shakespeare’s iconic humour writing delivered through Falstaff tying it all together.
Ultimately it was a privilege to see Shakespeare handled so deftly, with committed performances regardless of who was behind them.
Player Kings is currently touring the UK.