Henry V

 Henry V

The nominal purpose of my blog is to celebrate Chicago’s storefront theatre, the low budget, independent theatre of the streets made by and for working class joes like me. With exceptions I generally don’t review “the big ones” like Goodman and Steppenwolf, but Chicago Shaespeare Theater is an exception for me, because it’s meant a lot to me since a high school field trip to see Othello in the mid-90s, before they secured their now famous Navy Pier space.

Under the leadership of founding Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and her recently crowned successor Edward Hall, this production’s director, CST has always provided its audience with productions of Shakespeare’s canon that feel both faithful and innovative.

Much of Henry V is just that. The production centers on the charismatic performance of Elijah Jones, who perfectly captures the essence of the formerly wild and wanton Prince Hal, now transformed into the mature, fearsome warrior king. Jones is the solid anchor around which everything else revolves.

The show does not skimp on bells, whistles and pyrotechnics, as we are immersed into modern era combat between the English and French forces. Henry’s invasion of France visually evokes D-Day, and the soldiers serve as the chorus, performing not only the “muse of fire” speech but a rousing medley of musical numbers, including the Clash, the Pogues, WWII propaganda songs about obeying your air warden, all extremely fun stuff.

As someone who knows the text fairly well, I was struck at how much a successful Shakespeare production is about knowing what to cut and what to keep. I found some of Hall’s choices puzzling, such as the omission of any reference to the death of Falstaff, the corrupt and cowardly knight who symbolizes the wayward youth the new king renounced. This was also Henry’s main connection to the semi-comical characters of Bardolph. (Ronald L. Conner) Pistol (Demetrius Troy) and Nym (Scott Aiello)

I thought the first act was terrific, the second, which should be great, as it opens with the famous scenes of Henry walking among his troops in disguise, then delivering the St. Crispin’s day speech, I found to be a bit more of a laboriously paced drag, probably in part due to Hall giving us some lesser battlefield scenes best left out.

Fortunately, the show redeems itself by closing out with the language barrier romantic comedy between Henry and his newly betrothed, French Princess Katherine. (Courtney Rikki Green) It’s hard to go wrong with this material but Jones’ and Green’s chemistry and wit made it shine.

I wish I liked this Henry V just a little more than I did, but it still delivered where it mattered. Once more unto the breach…


September 6–October 6, 2024 Courtyard Theater PERFORMANCE LISTING • Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. (except September 24) • Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. • Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. • Fridays at 7:00 p.m. • Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (no matinee September 7) • Sundays at 2:00 p.m.


Chicago Shakespeare strives to make its facility and performances accessible to all patrons. Accessible seating, assistive listening devices, large-print and Braille programs, and sensory tools are available at every performance. Enhanced performances include: • ASL interpreted performance – Friday, September 27, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. All dialogue and lyrics are translated into American Sign Language by two certified interpreters. • Audio-described performance with optional touch tour – Sunday, September 29, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. A program that provides spoken narration of a play’s key visual elements for patrons who are blind or have low vision. Touch Tours provide patrons the opportunity to experience, firsthand, a production’s design elements. • Projected Spanish translated performance - Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. A text display of the words of the play, translated into Spanish, synced live with the dialogue. • Open captioned performance - Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. A text display of the words and sounds heard during a play, synced live with the action onstage.