Voices found articulates ‘henry v’ with a deft hand

By Marilyn Jozwik

Published Dec. 10, 2019

Voices Found Repertory has been feasting on Shakespeare plays, presenting high quality shows and casts of mostly young, talented performers who really “get” the Bard.

Their most recent offering is “Henry V,” one of Shakespeare’s historical plays that, as written, takes place during The Hundred Year’s War in the 1400s. England’s King Henry is leading his troops into battle in France, which Henry believes is his right to possess, saying, “I’ll dazzle all the eyes of France. I’ll shine so brightly that even the Dauphin (Prince Louis, heir to France’s throne) will be struck blind.”

Voices Found has moved the setting to an apocalypse that has left the British with few resources. When the English forces go into battle, they have to cobble together their means of warfare. Weapons, shelter and daily necessities are hard to come by. All of the play’s plotting and shifting relationships that Shakespeare lays out remain and are expertly portrayed here.

Many are skeptical of Henry’s leadership, as his past exploits include visits to Boar’s Head Tavern where he befriended lowlifes such as Pistol (Caroline Norton), Nym (Haley Ebinal) and Bardolph (Andy Montano), who later become soldiers in his Army. All three provide some wonderful comic moments in the show, especially Norton with her amusing offstage mutterings.

The young, brash Henry prepares his undermanned troops to invade France and his confident French counterparts. He rallies his men to keep battling through the breaches in the French lines, saying, “When the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger.”

You can see the young king, played wonderfully by Jake Thompson, grow in his role as monarch. His St. Crispin’s Day speech inspires his small band of soldiers – surrounded by the enemy -- to fight so successfully the tally is 10,000 French killed to only 30 English.

Besides his wins in battle, Henry gets an even bigger victory when he meets with Princess Katherine (Caroline Fossum) and the two agree to unite in order to bring France and Britain together. The scene is charmingly performed by Fossum and Thompson, with subtle body language and voice inflections to convey both awkwardness and tenderness.

Under the direction of Alec Lachman, the show takes on a modern vibe. The French, including King Charles (A.J. Magoon), have retained a more comfortable lifestyle than the rag-tag English, and appear in suits and often smoke cigarettes. In one scene, Prince Louis Dauphin (Rebekah Farr) is holding a small bag of Cheetos to snack on.

All performers, other than Thompson, play dual roles and really have a handle on this action-packed classic. Fight choreographer Connor Blankenship, who also plays Exeter and Bates, has created some marvelous battle scenes that often feature a whole stage full of sword-, club-, knife- and spear-wielding performers. Soldiers grunt and groan, lunge and fall in well-choreographed ways that simulate the horrors of war. Well done.

So many memorable scenes here, including Princess Katherine’s English lesson with her “lady” in waiting, Alice, played by the stocky Thomas Sebald with his prominent mohawk haircut in an interesting bit of casting. Shakespeare inserts some ribald humor with the well-bred princess as she repeats English words for body parts that end up sounding like very naughty words in French. Sebald and Fossum, speaking mostly French, have such fun with the scene.

Besides the aforementioned, the cast also includes Andy Montano, Brittany Haut, Cole Conrad and Alexis Furseth.

Sound Design by the Twilight includes a steady undercurrent of sound to reflect the onstage action which effectively enhances the scenes.

If you go:

Who: Voices Found Repertory

What: “Henry V”

When: Through Dec. 15

Where: The Underground Collaborative, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Info/Tickets: www.voicesfoundrepertory.com