Monmouth’s ‘Henry V’ fails as band of brothers

MONMOUTH – The Shakespearean Theater of Maine started down a treacherous road last season when it condensed “Henry IV” Parts I and II into one mangled production. A midcourse correction was desperately needed before the Theater at Monmouth launched “Henry V.”

Alas, director Bill Van Horn plunged headlong down the same jagged trail this summer, leaving not only his cast looking bloody and bruised, but the audience feeling battered as well. It was an appalling way to treat the Bard and his subject, one of England’s greatest kings.

The set on the uncurtained thrust stage at Cumston Hall was the first clue that this production was going to be a repeat of its predecessor. Its torn backdrop with bright pink and orange orbs along with the cluttered stage looked more like detritus from the “Sonny and Cher Show” than the fields where Henry conquered France.

Although most of the battles took place offstage, a few were played out before the audience. But, instead of the ringing sound of clanking metal as the broadswords of enemies met, the clunk of bamboo sticks filled the theater. It looked liked Ninja Harry and his band fighting for the fields of Bangkok rather than Agincourt. The result was battles that were more comic than combative.

A cast whose members were more equally experienced with Shakespeare, however, could have overcome those poor artistic choices. Less than a handful of the actors in the cast of 20, seemed to have a grasp of Shakespeare’s language. Those few were excellent and the rest, from King Harry on down were just shy of awful.

Last year, Joshua Scharback played Prince Hal as a frat boy but never showed the audience he was capable of ruling England. In “Henry V,” he portrayed the monarch’s leadership skills by shouting the Shakespeare’s oft quoted speeches that begin “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;” and “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

With his solid, stocky build, Scharback looks the part, but he brings no kingly countenance to the role. The actor’s tendency to deliver his lines to the audience rather than other characters makes Henry seem disconnected from the action of the play, rather than its catalyst. Scharback also lacks the charisma to pull off the charming warrior capable of seducing the reluctant daughter of the king of France while mercilessly bloodying her father’s countryside.

Paul L. Coffey as the Welshman, Fluellen, and Jeffrey Thomas as the Irishman, Macmorris, created complex characters more suited to ruling England than Scharback’s Henry. At 6 foot 8, Thomas was a fierce but never overpowering presence onstage. Coffey, a graduate of Colby College, sparkled as one of the captains in Henry’s army.

Newcomer Sara Hoyer, a tiny spark of an actress, gave a nuanced and memorable performance in a small role as did veteran Equity actor Mark S. Cartier. These performers were the exception rather than the rule, and, to succeed, “Henry V” needs to be an ensemble of actors who are transformed into a “band of brothers” before theatergoers’ eyes.

Because Shakespeare’s plays, especially his histories, have so many characters, directors often double cast as Van Horn did. His choices, however, confused the audience because he used the same actors to play members of the French Court that portrayed captains in the English king’s army.

From the direction to the set design to the acting, this production was a muddled mess and a disgrace to its designation as The Shakespearean Theater of Maine.

“Henry V” will be performed at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24.