Evening star., 1939-03-14


it becomes wearisome and that its
fascination begins to challenge ones
ability to succumb to fascination.
With 80 scenes and S acts, coming
on top of even a curtain that Is ex-
cusably Is minutes late, the 18th
century begins to look strangely like
a century and there is no escaping
that truth despite the engrossing
aspects of one of the most elaborate
productions the National has seen
in years.
Mr.. Welles, as no one needs to be
told, is producer with an imagina-
ton upon which Hollywood extrava-
gantly used the word colossal"
The producer, Interestingly enough,
deserves the adjective. After his
stark production of Julius Caesar,
that modern dress version of the
Bard which attracted so much at
ten last year, his Five Kings" is
endlessly surprising. However, on
the other side of the surprises, there
still remains the fact that the Five
Kings represents course in Shake
speare which would be better for
still more savage editing. One can
not escape that impression, regard
less of the excellence of the produc-
ton and the acting, and equally re-
gardless of ones enthusiasm for the
uncanny skill of Ann Hathaway's
husband, that the mind always must
weary of too much story. That is
what is given in Five Kings"
Some astonishingly competent
acting tends to divert the customer
from the unusual length of the
drama The outstanding contribu-
tions to it are those of Mr.. Welles
as Sir John Falstaf and of Burgess
Meredith as the Prince Hal who be-
came Henry V. No local stage, or
any other. has seen anything like
their playing in long time and if
there were no other justification for
an interest in the play, there still
would remain that of their perform
ances. AS one learns, or is it de-
duces, in the classroom, Shake
speare was tremendously interested
in people. His concern with them
comes over with extremely hign
colorings in the playing of not
merely the principals, but the subor-
dinate performers, in Five Kings"
Mr.. Welles' Falstaff Qiterally a
whale of a man due to padding) is
a chap with a lust for all of life,
its vulgarities as we'll as its digni-
ties. His impersonation is vital and
comic in its every shading, splendid
tribute to the ability of the man
who also is responsible for the
ingenuity and inventiveness of the
production. (The production, Incl
dentally, involves revolving stage
which, apart from an obvious lack
of rehearsal on light cues, came out
practically even on the initial Wash
ington performance OF Prince
Hal, the wayward son of Henry Nv,
vino eventually became the earnest
Henry V. Mr.. Meredith creates a
portrait that misses nothing of the
poignance and beWilderment of the
character. He is virtually perfect
in the early part Of the play as the
.roistering companion of Sir John
Falstaff, no less so later when he
perceives his responsibilities as king
to-be, and still later when he is
leading the English forces against
the French.
1t is an interesting aspect of the
Five Kings that it deals actually
with but two, the Henrys Nv and V.
The others will come along later
when the production actually goes
into the two evenings for which it
has been designed.
OF the two monarchs whose ways
and works are presented, the general
effect of both is on the grim side.
The majority of the 80 scenes are
somber in tone, which makes all
the more surprising and interesting,
the final one which is extremely
comic in flavor. In this, the erst-
while careless Hal-now Henry v
Is shown as the wooer of Katharine
of France, lover stymied by the
fact that he does not speak the
language of his beloved. Conqueror
of the French because he has the
eloQuence to inspire his forces to
superhuman deeds, Hal finds him.
self inept, inarticulate, virtually