Many tend to see Shakespeare as a stage full of over-the-top acting with pretentious language and white tights.
Yet Theatre Fairfield’s production of Henry IV Part 1 this spring is low on tights and big on 15th Century warfare, where characters must learn the lessons of leadership, courage and sword-fighting.
The cast and crew of the play, which opens on April 17, also had to learn these lessons from special talent-fight and dance choreographers, as well as the from their director, Dr. Martha LoMonaco. The play features about a dozen sword-fights.
To increase the authenticity of the perils of battle, fights were designed under the direction of Dan Burke, a specialist in fight choreography and also very familiar with Shakespeare’s plays.
A session with Burke is less like a rehearsal and more like boot camp. Cast and crew do slow-motion push-ups while belting out an exceptionally adrenaline-charged line from the play: “Hold up thy head, vile Scot…ONE!…”
With the actors confident in their stance as warriors and noblemen, the final touch are the tunics, robes and capes that cover them. Costume designer Hugh Hanson has given the costumes a real Robin Hood look from the Dark Ages, without the white tights.
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