Player Kings
Ian McKellen’s Falstaff, who was the original big draw for me, was as good as I hoped, playing a big bluff character with subtlety underneath the coarseness. His Falstaff is older of course, but with richness and depth even in part one, and the relationship with the prince develops beautifully during the play. My big takeaway though was that Toheeb Jimoh as Hal was really impressive and a talent to watch I think. He plays the prince as a high energy and wild fun seeker at the start. He holds himself tight, with a sense of danger and anger just below the surface and this comes out not just against his father the King (Richard Coyle), but with Falstaff as his other father figure. And I loved the way the relationships are played in that triangle.
I found it a bit difficult to remember what the rebellions were about and follow that bit of the narrative (I wonder if that’s where cuts were made or if it is always a bit confusing?). But the first half was a lot of fun, with McKellen playing the laughs dryly and knowingly with perfect timing. The second half gets a lot heavier and although Falstaff still keeps us entertained, his tragedy at the end really landed as Hal rejects him, and turns his face away to grow up, grow harder, and take on his responsibilities.
I had forgotten about Mistress Quickly too, played with a great fishwife energy by Clare Perkins The little 'romance' between Falstaff and Doll Tearsmith felt pretty icky though.
The audience was a fair bit younger than usual which was great to see and there were also quite a lot of tourists - I chatted to one young woman in the queue for the loo who said she was enjoying it but she was struggling with the language and what was going on - we agreed though that the best thing was just to let it wash over you… hopefully she survived the second half without drowning in the large chunks of dialogue towards the end.
Overall, a surprisingly rich treat in a slightly smaller than usual package.
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