STAGE REVIEW : ‘HENRY IV’ OPENS GROVE SEASON

There’s a certain amount of scenery chewing and some prefabricated swordplay here, but the Grove Shakespeare Festival, in its inaugural production of the eighth summer season, has a welcome “Henry IV, Part I” on its hands.

It is fresh, exuberant and funny.

Director Richard E. T. White’s production does not stray far from the traditional or discover any great new resonances, but young Prince Hal’s rite of passage, through his roisterous salad days to the first stirrings of political maturity, is delivered at the Grove Amphitheater with a raffishness and strength that honor the text.

This does not mean that all of the coloring “Henry” receives here is necessarily the richest. What we miss is the play’s darker lining, most obviously in Gregory Mortensen’s pleasant performance as young Hal (later to become Henry V). Mortensen is playful yet classy in the comic scenes, weaker in his confrontations with his father. True, the excellent Benjamin Stewart plays that father with such size and solemnity that almost anyone would be dwarfed by his emphatic, overwhelming presence.

Not Carl Reggiardo, though, who as the rebellious Hotspur goes at it with Stewart toe to toe--and with everyone else as well. Reggiardo takes such pleasure in masticating the lines and churning out the words that content does not always catch up to intensity. It’s a bristling portrayal, richly textured, often remarkably strong, but just as often merely overextended. Even in Shakespeare, some things are better said simply.

Despite the power in these key performances, the historical scenes of the play remain the least compelling. There is no shading of text, no real probing of conscience. And certainly the fight scenes that are the culmination of the drama go on too long, with neither enough suspense in the choreography (by Michael Cawelti) nor enough skill in the combatants to sustain them.

Clearly, the directorial emphasis in this production centers broadly on the comedy, at which all hands are very able--especially Harry Frazier as a rowdy Falstaff, bouncier and funnier and healthier than most, but also without subtext. What you see is what you get.

This is not a flaw. It is a choice--and consistently hilarious. Surrounded by the band of much younger renegades on whom he depends (Al Constantineau, Rick Tigert, Debbie Gates and Eugene Rubenzer as Poins, Gladshill, Peto and Bardolph, respectively), Frazier relishes being the center of their attention and even the butt of their practical jokes. He revels in their excesses and his own, yet rarely becomes excessive as an actor himself. No melancholia here, no sad clown behind the buffoon. This is an eater of beef who delivers the “honor” speech with lip-smacking gusto, who will live unrepentant, to the hilt, until he drops--and no regrets.

Production values are good if not exceptional (the set is by Cliff Faulkner, costumes by Shigeru Yaji, lighting by Peter Maradudin), though the arbitrary and repeated use of stage fog to camouflage the weakness of the battle scenes becomes a tiresome device--especially when you see it blowing in through modern forced-air registers!

Still, despite its three-hour length and the definite sag it suffers at the end, this “Henry” has a surprising energy, plenty of muscle and enough comic brashness to keep an audience entertained--which may be just what’s needed in July under an open sky.

Performances at Grove Amphitheater, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove, continue Thursdays through Sundays, 8:30 p.m., through Aug. 9. Tickets $12-$15; (714) 636-7213.

‘HENRY IV, PART I’ Shakespeare’s historical drama presented by the Grove Theatre Company and Rancho Santiago Community College for the eighth Grove Shakespeare Festival season. Director Richard E. T. White. Music Chuck Estes. Sets Cliff Faulkner. Lights Peter Maradudin. Costumes Shigeru Yaji. Fight director Michael Cawelti. Stage manager Barbara Covington. Cast Benjamin Stewart, Gregory Mortensen, Patrick Massoth, Jon Palmer, Daniel Cristaens, Daniel Bryan Cartmell, Andy Griggs, Carl Reggiardo, Russ Terry, Bud Leslie, Pamela Parish, Claudia Weitsman, Harry Frazier, Al Constantineau, Rick Tigert, Debbie Gates, Eugene Rubenzer, Kay Berlet and others. Performances at Grove Amphitheater, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove, Thursdays through Sundays, 8:30 p.m. until Aug. 9. Tickets $12-$15; (714) 636-7213.