Brookfield Theater For The Arts Presents Contemporary ‘Henry V’
By Elizabeth Young
Local theaters may be dark, but they are not necessarily quiet. Community theater in our area has developed new ways to stay relevant and engaged in the art of performance. They are excelling at keeping their loyal and enthusiastic audiences entertained through a multitude of virtual presentations, all of which are innovative and worth watching. You could literally binge watch theater in your comfiest chair, until they go live again.
Brookfield Theater for the Arts has the great, good fortune of access to one of this communities most talented and ambitious directors, Jane Farnol. Her energy and creativity are evidenced in one spectacular production after another. She has now taken on the challenge of producing Shakespeare’s Henry V in the virtual medium.
Her current efforts have been focused on a revamped and contemporized version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Exercising her exquisite editing skills once again, after a brilliant success with Macbeth, Farnol provides King Henry with a new and quite relatable enemy to battle. The costuming and formatting in the Zoom era offer an element of fevered urgency.
Casting from a pool of exceptional skill, the production is a vibrant rendition of a classic tale made new.
Playing Henry V is Rob Sniffin. Thomas Samuels is the Chorus and the Constable of France is played by Sean Latasa, both fresh off performances in Moon Over Buffalo, while the ever-delightful Ron Malyska plays George VI, the King of France.
In a gender bending turn, Vicki Sosbe gives what is bound to be a fabulous performance as the Dauphin, while her daughter Keira Sosbe plays Katherine, the Princess of France.
The Gentlewoman to the Princess is played by the delightful Joy Tagliavento while Lou Okell is Isabelle, Queen of France. Rounding out the cast, John Taylor plays the Duke of Exeter.
This promises to be an exciting evening of theater, streaming straight into our living rooms, and one not to be missed.
The performance airs live on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 PM, on the TBTA website, http://brookfieldtheatre.org.