Boldness be my friend
The maiden Hong Kong International Shakespeare Festival brings some of the most daringly experimental theater based on the Bard's works to the city. Chitralekha Basu reports.
Kingly jests
Brett Brown's journey playing Henry V for almost eight years has similarly added to his growth as an actor while also "giving me a freeing irreverence toward my own work". Since 2016, the Australian actor has been performing a solo act, adapted from Shakespeare's Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, and Henry VI Part 1 by Philip Parr, who also directs. Over the years, "while the essence of the production has remained the same, I have developed a much deeper understanding of the character," Brown says.
Henry V Man and Monarch is a non-linear piece, based on the Henriad but presented in the form of a jigsaw puzzle, or to use, Brown's preferred metaphor, "a cubist painting".
"We intentionally piece together different parts of Shakespeare's Henry plays while manipulating and juxtaposing aspects of his character to bring a new vision of Henry to life," he says. "Some moments of the play are intentionally confusing, time and place change rapidly, or Henry says one thing, but does another. This allows me to expose elements of Henry's hereditary patterns, hypocrisy, poetry, brutality, and statesmanship. My Henry keeps the audience on their toes - he is always one step ahead of them."
A lot of newspapers are destroyed during the performance. Henry carries a paper scepter and wears a paper crown, scissoring it out of a current edition published from the city where the production is playing. "This creates a dynamic connection between the themes of Shakespeare's 400-year-old plays and the current social context of the audience," Brown says.
"I am fascinated by the way our leaders shape their public image and how the media has the power to create their invisible, symbolic crowns," says the actor, pointing out how Shakespeare's Henry, as indeed his own version of the character, is no different. "He obsesses over what is said about him, and literally creates his orb, scepter and crown from sheets of newspaper. Carefully crafting his own image and mythology, he also creates soldiers from newspaper pages, chopping them up and throwing them away at his will.
"Apart from newspapers, we use no special effects or recorded sound: It is just me, a few bits of costume, and Shakespeare's words. This continues to be a little daunting, as I have nowhere to hide during the performance."
Contact the writer at basu@chinadailyhk.com
