“So shaken as we are, so wan with care, find we a time for frighted peace to pant”, says king Henry IV in the opening monologue of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I. Those words seem to be oppositely prophetic. The speech is soon being interrupted by news of an incoming rebellion… The Polish Theatre in Warsaw chose that exact story for their latest play. The History of Henry IV directed by acclaimed French artist, Ivan Alexandre, premiered on October 10th. It’s the first such big title in the new theatrical season. Shakespeare on the stages of Polish theaters appears relatively rarely and it’s always a great celebration. And this production is indeed monumental.
In the first part of Henry IV Shakespeare describes the history of rebellion of Henry Percy, former king’s ally who – perhaps taking advantage of the king’s instability and the absence of the heir to the throne, who spends his time hanging out in bars with some shady characters – wanted to take over the English throne. The fight is fierce and it leads to the final clash at the battle of Shrewsbury. This is indeed a thoroughly Shakespearean story – a political drama (basically historical, although, as scholars claim, Shakespeare treated this historicity quite freely) is combined with a family drama with the thread of one’s transformation. More importantly, it also takes up a debate, so important for Shakespeare, about universal issues – honor, responsibility and morality.
The adaptation of Ivan Alexandre shows this very precisely. Alexandre returns to the Polish Theatre after thirteen years. In 2011 he directed Corneille’s Le Cid which he created in a very traditional way. This almost archaic – in a good way – manner of thinking is also present in History of Henry IV. The director presents Shakespeare’s material as Shakespearean as possible.
Formally, the play is quite orthodox. The wonderful period costumes (created by Dorota Kołodyńska), the turpistic, archaic language or the way of acting en face – all this refers to old classical philosophy of theater. The story of Henry IV is not an experiment – neither in form nor in message. It is a meticulously thought-out machine of creating meanings. The same as Shakespeare’s machine. This is not an innovative work, it is a monumental work in every sense of the word. Alexandre has created one great classical theater onstage.
This monumentality is striking above all in the context of Antoine Fontaine’s incredible scenography. Everything on the stage is well thought out, and the structures are a neat combination of both the acting places and the musicians’ positions. The revolving stage is also used brilliantly – after all it’s the first of its kind in Poland. Its work in the battle scene makes a gigantic impression, when its constant rotation taps out the rhythm of the fight like a spinning clock hand.
In that surrounding there is also the monumentality of the cast. It’s not only large (in terms of number of actors) but also there are several gigantic roles. We should start with the title character, king Henry IV, played here by Andrzej Seweryn. He was indeed created for playing royal roles. Seeing Seweryn in a Shakespearean play is like touching some metaphysical essence of theatrical art. I still remember his wonderful Lear played in the Stary Theatre in Lublin. Seweryn in some way is a Shakespearean actor. There are really few other European actors that play Shakespearean roles with such understanding and dedication. He reminds a bit of the acting class of Ian McKellen, probably the most mainstream Shakespearean. Nota bene McKellen played in the 2024 adaptation of Henry IV on the West End. He played the role of Falstaff.
In Alexandre’s play this character is wonderfully portrayed by Szymon Kuśmider. The figure of Falstaff is vital in Shakespeare’s drama. He not only introduces comedy, but above all he is also an important voice in the debate on honor and responsibility. “What is honour? A word. What is in that word “honour”? Air. A trim reckoning. Who hath it? He that died o’ Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. ‘Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead.’, he says. By the figure of a Rabelaisian oldman, Shakespeare is disintegrating the values to define them in a new way. And by that he creates the archetype of the “garter-coward”, a coward who, as a result of coincidences, is considered a hero. Suffice to say it was Falstaff who probably served as Sienkiewicz’s prototype of Onufry Zagłoba. They are both “garter-cowards” in that Shakespearan sense.
In the staging there is also strong representation of the younger generation of actors. Beside them there are Paweł Krucz as Prince of Wales, Henry and Modest Ruciński as Henry Percy. Both fresh and full of verve – especially Krucz, who with his entourage (including Ignacy Liss as Ned Points), impersonates youth. It is between Krucz and Ruciński that the greatest tension takes place. Tension that culminates in the magnificent, already mentioned, daring Shrewsbury battle scene.
The story of Henry IV is classic in expression and impresses with its form of execution. What is more important, it is about “something” and tries to convey this “something”. Obviously, in an extremely complex and intricate way, which is characteristic of Shakespeare. However, it is worth asking, why is this work now on the placard of the Polish Theatre?
I have already mentioned honor, responsibility and morality, which Shakespeare – and after him Alexandre – discusses. Of those three, the responsibility seems to be principal. “What is honor?”, asks Falstaff and in response completely decomposes this value. “What is morality?”, we can follow. It’s also difficult to give a clear answer. Only responsibility is something measurable. It manifests when Prince Henry decides to support the King, his father, in the fight against the rebellion. It is visible when the king, although elderly, stands up to fight his opponents himself. Responsibility, Shakespeare suggests, is concrete. What’s more, it’s something that will allow us to understand the other two listed. “What is honor?”. Responsibility? “What is morality?”. Responsibility? This treatise is not accidental. Maybe we should realize that responsibility is the key to many other greater “words”.
Henry IV was last performed in Poland exactly one hundred years ago, in 1924. Falstaff was played by the legendary Aleksander Zelwerowicz, and the King by the equally memorable Jerzy Leszczyński. The times were not very peaceful. Are they now? The answer is rather clear. Maybe it is not a coincidence either. Maybe Seweryn, as an actor and the head of Polish Theatre, and Alexandre as director, want to tell us something? Maybe it is – although naive – that exact responsibility-requiring message: “The weak, pale with worries, let us allow the frightened peace to breathe for a moment”?
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