The Guthrie Theater’s production of the History Plays: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V is well underway as they closed out their opening day marathon on Saturday, April 13 with all three shows in production. This run is a historic moment in itself, given that the last time these plays were performed in a rotating repertory was over 30 years ago.
Actors Melissa Maxwell, William Sturdivant and Jasmine Bracey shared their insight in the production process and the unique undertaking they had in performing these three plays. Each of them portrays multiple characters throughout the plays, and all have a long relationship with Shakespearean works in their performing careers.
Maxwell portrays the Duchess of Gloucester and Bishop of Carlise in “Richard II” and Earl of Westmorland in “Henry IV” and “Henry V.” Sturdivant portrays Henry Bolingbroke in “Richard II,” King Henry IV in “Henry IV,” and Gower in “Henry V.” Bracey, who is making her Guthrie debut, portrays the Duchess of York in “Richard II,” Thomas Percy and Earl of Worcester in “Henry IV,” and Montjoy and Alice in “Henry V.”
The cast had roughly 12 weeks to prepare for the series of plays with four weeks allotted to each production. Having worked as professional actors for several years, they’ve grown used to short turnarounds going from one play to the next, but found their current situation to be unique.
“I think it’s a behemoth,” Maxwell stated. “Much of my career has been doing rep, but this is sort of rep on steroids.”
Sturdivant saw the experience as having given the cast the ability to build stronger bonds with one another and solidify their performances.
“It allows us to kind of dive deeper into the relationships and plot points that hopefully are revealed when we are performing so that people can really follow the story, because it’s pretty massive,” he said.
Several members of the production are people of color, with some of them playing different genders than their own. The actors reflected on their experience on Shakespearean plays that have historically been portrayed by white men, and the representative work on stage that goes into their performances.
“I was in an all-Black cast of Julius Caesar with an acting company [that] goes to the kind of more rural areas, places where professional theater isn’t highly available,” Sturdivant said. “At the end we had to talk back, and this kid in the back raises his hand and he says, ‘I understood it all.’”
When the play concluded, Sturdivant and the other actors realized the student’s implied question was about why he was taught that he couldn’t understand Shakespeare. Maxwell followed up by stating that the barriers put in place for Black students to not have access to Shakespeare or the belief that it is out of their understanding is mistaken.
“I’m also going to suggest that any teacher who has told a person of color that Shakespeare isn’t their language or that they wouldn’t necessarily understand it doesn’t understand Shakespeare and doesn’t understand Black culture,” she said.
Maxwell pointed to the centuries of poetry, rhythm and rhyme that come from the Black experience and translate directly to the words of Shakespeare.
The cast underlined the importance of Shakespeare’s plays in understanding different uses of the English language that translate to other mediums. Bracey also shared her love of the malleable nature of Shakespeare’s works, which have been adapted and expanded for the purpose of reaching different audiences.
“It’s the experience of language, not necessarily the understanding of language,” she said of Shakespeare’s writing. “Just like you can watch an opera and it’s not even in English, but you’re still moved, there’s something there to the way that Shakespeare constructs the words that he constructs.”
The actors also spoke to their approach to Shakespeare’s works after having been in several productions. Bracey shared that in the past she had been relegated to comedies and certain roles as a Black woman, but the opportunity now to be in a history play along with portraying male characters has given her more room to explore her talents.
“What is pretty great though is exploring gender as well, because there’s a lot of these plays, especially because they’re history plays, [the characters] are majority male,” she said. “I play an uncle at one point. I’m playing predominantly male characters in one play.”
Sturdivant, who has performed in dozens of Shakespeare productions around the country, has only had a handful of opportunities to play the lead. “One of the things I’m trying to do is to embed moments in one that will blossom in the other,” he said.
“Make this moment that is talked about in Henry IV about what happened in Richard II, make that moment pop in a way in Richard II, so that when people see them together they can see those little Easter eggs hidden in there.”
For Maxwell, each opportunity to portray a character on stage gives her the chance to delve into the human experience and bring about universal traits we all share. “I think the reason I am an actor is because I’m fascinated with the study of human psychology and why someone behaves the way they do,” she said.
“I always say, I get to do on stage in really cool costumes under lights what psychiatrists and psychologists do in a sterile room with a couch and some chairs.”
The History Plays will run through May 25 with another marathon day showcasing all three productions on May 18. Tickets are available for purchase at the Guthrie Theater website.
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