City Desk: Culture Clash

Actors age and fashions change. The earlier productions were set securely in the 15th century. In the interim, Stratford inexplicably acquired a supply of World War I uniforms and helmets, which have been used in everything from King John to Antony and Cleopatra. Sure enough, here they are again, though mixed with more traditional costumes. Did we really need that nudge in the ribs to tell us that these plays are saying something universal?

At one time, the prevailing view of Prince Hal was pretty grim: He was a heartless schemer, leading poor old John Falstaff on and then betraying him. Hal does say things that can be read this way (“My reformation, glittering o’er my fault, / Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes, / Than that which hath no foil to set it off”). But Abbey, like Monette before him, gives us a Hal in keeping with the whole text, a Hal who is growing weary of the gluttony and guzzling of Eastcheap but who is reluctant to trade it for his father’s self-regarding notions of duty. As for the Fat Knight, Douglas Campbell brings him to life with all his gusto, wit, and irresponsibility. Come to think of it, Falstaff is another charming outsized two-year-old.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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Actors age and fashions change. The earlier productions were set securely in the 15th century. In the interim, Stratford inexplicably acquired a supply of World War I uniforms and helmets, which have been used in everything from King John to Antony and Cleopatra. Sure enough, here they are again, though mixed with more traditional costumes. Did we really need that nudge in the ribs to tell us that these plays are saying something universal?

At one time, the prevailing view of Prince Hal was pretty grim: He was a heartless schemer, leading poor old John Falstaff on and then betraying him. Hal does say things that can be read this way (“My reformation, glittering o’er my fault, / Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes, / Than that which hath no foil to set it off”). But Abbey, like Monette before him, gives us a Hal in keeping with the whole text, a Hal who is growing weary of the gluttony and guzzling of Eastcheap but who is reluctant to trade it for his father’s self-regarding notions of duty. As for the Fat Knight, Douglas Campbell brings him to life with all his gusto, wit, and irresponsibility. Come to think of it, Falstaff is another charming outsized two-year-old.