Contemporary Arts
THEATRE
KIND Hems' IV (PARTS 1 AND 2). BY William SHAKESPEARE. (Old Vic.) — Ton JAZZ TRAIN. (Piccadilly.)—THE MERRY WIDOW. (Palace.) LET it be said at once that these two parts of Henry IV arc the best production that has been seen for a very long time at the Old Vic and one of the best that have been seen in London. They represent a triumph for Douglas Seale, the producer, whose Henry VI gave a fore- taste of what he might do with a better play, as well as for the cast, who have at last re- ceived the kind of production that displays them at their best. Mr. Scale's direction is in- telligent without being clever in the pejorative sense of the word. How faithful he is to Shake- speare may be measured by what he made of the scene in the second part where Prince John, by as neat a piece of Renaissance realpolitik as is to be found in the history plays, tricks the Archbishop of York and his confederates into disbanding their army and then has them arrested. This scene is, to my mind, crucial for the play (it was omitted in the Olivier/Richard- son production some years ago), since it makes all the laborious moral justifications that have been thought for the rejection of Falstaff quite beside the point (if Falstaff is disreputable, what is Prince John?), and Mr. Scale's version of it showed just how horrible it can be made with the men-at-arms pinioning the rebels and Mowbray laughing frantically as the lights play on Prince John and Westmoreland, who balance each other neatly in the centre of the stage. The note of reality struck here is present throughout the production; the battle scene at the end of Part 1 was as fine a piece of stage skirmishing as I have seen and, while avoid- ing Grand Guignol effects, managed to be as exciting as a cowboy-and-Indian film, which, after all, is just what a stage battle should be. The same realism is present in the tavern scenes, which emphasise the seamy side of such characters as Doll Tearshect and Pistol incidentally, how lucky Mr. Scale was in having Rachel Roberts as his Mistress Quickly; when roused she has a voice like a foghorn) and the crowds are grouped most effectively to give maximum rumbustiousness to plays re- markable even in Shakespeare for their swarm- ing vitality.
his page to scoot, as the order is given to lead him to the Fleet.
By these two characters Henry IV stands or falls, but they are well backed tip by John Neville, who plays Hotspur in the first part and Pistol in the second—a more fantastical Pistol than usual—and Eric Porter as a tor- mented King. Alan Dobic makes a good deal more of Prince John than is generally done, but, of course, he is allowed his big scene for once. I have already mentioned Miss Roberts as Mistress Quickly—the success of the tavern scenes was to a great extent due to her screech- ing over the battlefield like a demented raven.
At this point to complain about cuts may seem a little niggling, but I was sorry not to have Falstaff's comments on his troops: 'Food for powder, food for powder; they'll fill a pit as well as better: tush, man, mortal men, mortal men.' However, this is a minor blemish. What matters is that we had the essential Shakespeare played against a good set by well- produced actors without frills or preciosity. The Old Vic should put themselves in the hands of Mr. Scale for a spell. Then we might have some standards in Shakespearean pro- duction.
At the Piccadilly connoisseurs of Dionysiac sensation may see a programme of Negro song and dance. This was very enjoyable. though I should have liked it better if we had had more straight folk music and, above all, more spirituals. The Negro genius is, after all, the most naturally religious of any people of this age, and it was a pity that we did not see more of this side of it. Instead we had Frankie and Johnny—very well, if rather gruesomely, done—and a good selection of Blues. At the Palace by way of contrast there is The Merry Widow taken at rather a slow pace at first, with Jan Kicpura and an Anglo-German text.
ANTHONY HARTLEY
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