Henry VIII @ Folgers

While the productions put on by the Shakespeare Theatre Company are unrivaled in professionalism, the Folgers Shakespeare Library puts on high quality productions that are cutting edge and intimate. The Elizabethan theatre outdid itself this time around with beautiful and intricate sets. Ian Peakes was amazing I thought. He seemed to exude a barely controlled excitement throughout the piece, breathing life into an admittedly stale script. This was my first "history" play and it was very different from his comedies and tragedies. While I thought the difference was just that, apparently the script is known for being inferior to the Bard's repertoire. Indeed, Henry VIII is one of the most interesting characters in British history and the play really only touches on one of his more infamous episodes (the throwing over of Catherine of Avignon for Anne Bolyn). Nevertheless, I feel like I could see this again just to see Peakes perform, perhaps after reading it first.