The pinnacle of gender-bending in Shakespearian casting has to be Asta Nielsen’s turn as Hamlet in her 1921 Danish silent adaptation; Nielsen’s Hamlet, a woman disguised as a man, flirts relentlessly with Horatio even as she consigns her treacherous uncle to a fiery death. Next to the likes of Nielsen, Stockyard Theatre Company’s self-proclaimed “ferocious re-imagining” of Henry IV looks remarkably tame. After an initial, effective tableau of its largely female cast engaging in the usual Shakespearian swordplay and tankard-hoisting, the production settles into a faithful recounting of Prince Hal’s wayward youth. Within a few scenes, the nontraditional casting fades from view, which makes one kind of feminist point even as it suggests that Stockyards could have pushed its production a little farther. It also calls into question the choice of a male Falstaff: Eric Frederickson’s performance is jaunty enough, but the lapse in the production scheme remains unexplained and slightly disconcerting throughout. Elizabeth Styles is a nuanced Hal, able to switch easily between a W.-like drunken insouciance and a regal grandeur. But spotty performances in other prominent roles, like Stacie Barra’s peevish Hotspur and Mary Ross’s scolding Henry, sap the play of its potential conviction. (John Beer)
