This is a past event.

Closing (Theater and Galleries) Recommended The Short List (Theater)
Saint Crispin's Day

When: Fridays-Sundays. Continues through Oct. 31 2009
Phone: 773-528-9696
Price: $10-$40

How to transform Henry V, Shakespeare's most stirringly patriotic play, into a sardonic indictment of war and imperialism? Playwright Matt Pepper manages it by shifting focus to the original play's rogues (Bardolph, Nym and Pistol), adding a wacky plot to kidnap the king, and putting a decidedly cynical spin on Henry's notions of government. Voila: black comedy where once there was a national myth. The script occasionally falls prey to sermonizing on the one hand and slapstick on the other, but it's also thought provoking and savagely funny. The real story here, though, is Kevin Christopher Fox's staging for Strawdog Theatre Company. From Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky's muddy, mist-enshrouded scenic design to the gleefully depraved performances of the cast, this production reinforces at every turn the argument that war degrades and distorts human nature. --Zac Thompson