Mild to Hot

Bloody mess: Liev Schreiber is Henry V in a disappointing Shakespeare in the Park production.

Whether it’s muddled Shakespeare or mighty O’Neill, New York summer theater only whets the appetite for fall.

by Toby Zinman

The huge hit of the New York summer stage has been the last show that you’d call summer entertainment: O’Neill’s gloomy masterpiece,

Long Day’s Journey Into Night

, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard.

Through Aug. 31, Plymouth Theater, 236 W. 45th St., 212-239-6200.

Also noteworthy is Flesh and Blood, an adaptation by Peter Gaitens of a novel by Michael Cunningham (The Hours) with the estimable Cherry Jones, Peter Frechette and Martha Plimpton. Through Aug. 24, New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. Fourth St., 212-460-5475.

The big disappointment for me was the Central Park production of Henry V. For reasons that multiply the more you think about it, this is the Shakespeare play of the moment: The King of England decides to claim the throne of France based on some cockamamie ancient law. He invades and succeeds in annexing France and wedding the French princess. Just why he does this is the problem of any production: Is he the bad-boy prince who has to prove his kingship? Is he manipulating the Church or genuinely devout? Is he a warmonger or a man trapped by circumstance and ceremony? Is this play full of jingoistic fervor or slyly antiwar?

The new production directed by Mark Wing-Davey and starring the painfully dull Liev Schreiber at the Delacourt Theatre in Central Park answers these questions by saying well, yeah, OK, sort of, maybe all of the above. With a mishmash of a set (I had no idea what I was looking at much of the time) filled with dozens of overturned gilt chairs (where is Ionesco when you really need him?), and a mishmash of costumes ranging from medieval chain mail to WWII uniforms to contemporary combat boots, every dramatic opportunity is wasted. The passionate, irresistible-even-to-a-pacifist St. Crispin’s Day speech (“We few, we happy few …”) falls flat, and the “little touch of Harry in the night” moment becomes a postmodern joke when Henry chucks a young soldier under the chin and a sound effect goes, “Ding!” with a sparkle spotlight on his toothy grin. Boring and lacking even a moment of dignity, this isn’t worth seeing even for free. Through Aug. 10, Delacorte Theater, 425 Lafayette St., 212-539-8750.

But: If you’re going to London, the fabulous production of this same play at the National, starring the riveting Adrian Lester in a fiercely contemporary production (automatic weapons, jeeps, imbedded journalists, live-feed footage), is thrilling and chooses depth and ambiguity rather than the indecisive grab-bag approach of the New York Henry V.

Shakespeare in the fall:

Henry IV, Part One, a world premiere at BAM, directed by Richard Maxwell, known for his “hyper-real” style of directing, which has been called “strangely emotionless yet compassion-packed,” whatever that means. Performances begin Sept. 30, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave., 718-636-4100.

Henry IV (a version combining Shakespeare’s two parts) with this starry lineup: Billy Crudup, Ethan Hawke, Dana Ivey, Kevin Kline and Audra McDonald. Performances begin Oct. 28, Lincoln Center, 140 W. 65th St., 212-239-6200.

And, as a potential cherry on top:

The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed (The Psychic Life of Savages) takes on the vexed-again issue of Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays. Previews begin Oct. 24, New York Theatre Workshop.

More fall fodder:

Golda’s Balcony starring Tovah Feldshuh in a portrait of Israel’s fourth prime minister (1969-74), by William Gibson (The Miracle Worker). Transfers from the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre where it was a sold-out hit, and recipient of the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel awards. Previews begin Oct. 4, Helen Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., 212-239-6200.

Another portrait of a woman is Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Based on the bestselling novel by Allan Gurganus recounting 99 years in the remarkable life of Lucy Marsden, a Confederate captain’s wife, from her marriage at age 15 through the present day. Ellen Burstyn, the first woman in history to win both the Tony Award and the Academy Award in the same year, stars. Previews begin Oct. 17, Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St., 212-239-6200.

The Retreat From Moscow, a new play by William Nicholson (Shadowlands, Gladiator’s screenplay) starring the never-to-be-missed Eileen Atkins, John Lithgow and Ben Chaplin. Previews begin Oct. 2, Lincoln Center.

The General From America, written and directed by Richard Nelson (James Joyce’s The Dead), starring Corin Redgrave as Benedict Arnold. Previews begin Nov. 16, Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St., 212-239-6200.

bobrauschenbergamerica, a new piece about artist Robert Rauschenberg by Charles L. Mee (Big Love), performed by Anne Bogart’s SITI Company. Oct. 14-18, Brooklyn Academy of Music.

(t_zinman@citypaper.net)

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