Ready or not, here comes William Shakespeare’s Henry VI: Parts I, II, III rigged out as “A Trilogy in Two Parts”—the first three hours long, the second two hours 40 minutes long, “long” an indisputably operative word in this instance. Luckily, it’s an instance that eventually deserves honoring.
To begin with, the first part, generally believed to be the emerging Bard’s first play, is assumed to have been written in 1591 or, if not, early 1592. Records differ about this, as they do about whether the first part was written before the second two.
Furthermore, questions persist as to whether they were written by 27-year-old upstart Will on his own or were possibly were collaborations between (among?) contemporaries like Christopher Marlowe and/or Thomas Nashe.
Since the unfortunately doomed Henry VI, son of the fortunate Henry V (a crafty maker of his own good fortune), lived 1421 to 1471, Shakespeare (1564-1614) was covering events of a previous century. Undoubtedly, those events then would have been considered relatively recent history.
It’s generally conceded that the source materials were drawn from historians Raphael Holinshed and Edward Hall. And there was plenty to draw from at a time when the Lancaster and York families were literally at sword’s point over who deserved to rule England. This was in unflagging belief that Henry VI, who was proclaimed monarch when he was 9 months old, was eminently vulnerable, and the War of the Roses was emerging. Plus, the facts, as they were understood, were ripe for tinkering by an imaginative dramatist.
Indeed, the number of contentious clans rumbling throughout Shakespeare’s (and others’?) acidic reminiscences are so numerous that they have the effect of rendering these histories extremely challenging to follow. To misquote from Romeo and Juliet: the eventual outcome suggests a plague on all their houses.
The Earl of Talbot, the Earl of Warwick, the Dukes Gloucester, Buckingham, and Somerset, the Bishop of Winchester, and a bevy of devious others confront each other consistently while keeping audience members on their mental toes attempting to keep track of the overwhelming Who’s Who.
Program synopses do what they can to prepare spectators for what’s about to transpire, but it’s highly likely that when read even only seconds before the parts swing gloriously into action, what’s just been read is quickly obliterated by the unfolding dramatic vortex, a vortex that includes, until she’s led to the stake, a not entirely sympathetic Joan of Arc.
Yet, for all the challenges the two parts tease the spectators, there’s a big, big plus: This revival bids fair to be a must-see. That’s not because the plays are so rarely presented that this chance better be snagged. It’s also not because seen now it never needs to be seen again.
Not at all. It’s because, presented by NAATCO (National Asian American Theatre Company), is a hardly common instanc of a first-rate production of a Shakespeare play around this metropolitan neighborhood. Well, three Shakespeare plays forged (not forced) into one.
Among several others, there is one over-arching hero: Stephen Brown-Fried, credited as adapter and director. Shakespeare (and cronies?) were the first adapters of this ziggurat history. After them Brown-Fried has shaped his 21st century gander.
The five-hour-40-minute result is masterful, replete with numerous drills, actors facing actors in ominously staged confrontations. Most notably, the plays are beautifully spoken—with, it does need to be reported, a small garbling quotient. Brown-Fried is also significantly aided by fight choreographers, movement directors, and intimacy coordinators Orlando Pabotoy and Kimiye Corwin.
The stark set by the always tasteful dots (Audience members both sides of the room), is lighted by Mextly Couzin with Kate Marvin’s sound design. Whether she’s responsible for the otherwise uncredited music remains unmentioned.
Brown-Fried steadfastly directs 16 actors, all of whom deserve mention for their often doubling contributions and, no question, for their stamina: Tommy Bo, Rajesh Bose, Kimiye Corwin, Myka Cue, John D. Haggerty, David Lee Huynh, Anna Ishida, Paul Juhn, Mia Katigbak, Teresa Avia Lim, Orville Mendoza, John Norman Schneider, David Shih, Julyana Soelistyo, Sue Jin Song, and James Yaegashi. Extra-special standouts include but not exclusively: Scheider as Henry, Katigbak, Yaegashi, Cue, Lim, Bose.
Then there’s the threeASFOUR (that’s correct) costume design, as original and eye-grabbing as costumes come these days. They can’t quite be described as period; yet they’re far from modern dress. Maybe they could be praised as the threeASFOUR contingent amusingly playing around with period.
From start to finish, the English figures wear predominately black apparel; the French entirely white (the Dauphin certainly so). Note that blood-soaked as the warriors surely were in reality—given the innumerable battlefield deaths—evidence of that isn’t what Brown-Fried is after. Incidentally, there are many beheadings, all slyly represented with a weird object repeatedly held aloft.
As it’s the contemporary norm to suss out how Shakespeare reflects current times, the three history parts here do have something to say about today’s frequently cited enemies list. Wouldn’t you know the list-makers from 700 year’s back are a caution? Each has an arm-length-leg-length list that puts today’s White House occupant to shame. What an enemies-list loser he turns out to be.
A final observation about Shakespeare’s playwrighting approach after these character-packed, incident-packed histories. It may be there’s an important lesson he learned from the early outings: Keep plots more narrowly focused. Think about the histories, tragedies and comedies that followed. That’s just what he did to lasting success.
Henry VI: A Trilogy in Two Parts opened June 21, 2026, at the Public Theater and runs through July 19. Tickets and information: publictheater.org
