Folger Theatre: King John

Wednesday, Thanksgiving eve, and I am once again at the theatre.  In my ample sampling of regional theatre in the DMV, I see a lot of Shakespeare.  It's never bad.  The calibre of actor in the DC regional pool is such that to person, they memorize and deliver the lines without a flaw.  But what I've come to understand is that being able to do that (even with moderate, appropriate inflection) is only the first rung on the ladder of a good performance.  The next rung would be to own them so they honestly sound fresh and intentional to the character.  The next rung is to do this in a way that is also interesting, that creates a well formed entity of the character.  And finally, wrapping all of that up and tossing in some idiosyncratic qualities that polish the realization of the character.  Now, that's excellent Shakespeare.  I've seen it happen, and mostly inconsistently as an ensemble.  Now give you I, "King John". 

It's the first chronologically in terms of historic events of Shakespeare's history plays being set in the turn of the 13th century.  At one time it was widely performed, among the most popular of his works in the 19th century.  Today, it's rarely done.  For that reason alone I was eager to see it.  I hadn't realized that it was 2 hours and 30 minutes long!  Eeek.  But in for a penny...  As a prologue in this production the actors come out in the beginning and engage in the audience in a casual presentation of the events cover by the play, as well as, introducing their character or characters.  This was very affecting, creating an instant rapport with the audience and honestly helping me set the foundation of following the plot, which is dense with ideas and events.

The set was simple anchored by two pieces: an oversized throne and a crown as large as a medieval hoop chandelier suspended above it.  The costumes were vaguely turn of the 20th century common dress, but they were very effective in creating a unified ambiance for the ensemble.  Battle scenes were very intensely presented using lights that forced me to squint and obscured the actors except when they delivered a line of dialogue.  It was an effective mechanism conveying the confusion and sensory shock of war.  But back to the beginning.

The thing that really stood out to me was the magnitude of actors in this production who accomplished all of the rungs of the ladder in their performances.  Brian Dykstra was the most mortal of sovereigns I've ever seen.  He created a King who's flaws were as evident as his crown, but for whom aspect of his character did not become a caricature.  He was real in a way that elicited an authentic confusion in me between my desire to dislike him and my impulse to pity him.  Kate Goehring's portrayal of Queen Eleanor was raw and powerful and even quite witty at times.  I never doubting the sincerity of her words once--she was Eleanor completely.  Elan Zafir, Akeem Davis and Megan Graves each found their sweet moment and used it to shine brilliantly.  Holly Twyford is a tour de force in anything she does, and here she was well in her element as the wronged and vengeful Constance.  Her's were among the most intense moments emotionally.  But, of course, I usually find that one person who rises above the rest.  In this case she only could rise a little bit higher as the overall standard was stratosferic.  My hat's off to Kate Eastwood Norris in the role of the Bastard Philip Falconbridge.  It was a cross gender performance (there were several in this production) that even now thinking back on it, I have a hard time realizing that she is not a he.  (I saw her earlier in the season play Lady MacBeth, and I can assure you she is definitely a she!)  In this role, Norris grabbed this pivotal member of the cast and thrust herself into his arrogance, his swagger, his humor with an unapologetic force that is an essentially masculine life force, again without a hint of caricature or melodrama.  I really liked her as Lady MacBeth, but I loved her as Faulconbridge.  As I loved this entire production.  To reference back to the length, it was as if it simply flew by so engaging and comprehensible it was.  The run ends on December 2nd.  I'd certainly not want to miss this one.