SHAKESPEARE TROUPE RETURNS TO STRATFORD LIBRARY

Hudson Shakespeare Company Performs "Henry V" on July 23

            While area residents continue to wait patiently for the reopening of the American Shakespeare Theatre, the Stratford Library is offering the best of the Bard all summer long. 

The popular Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey will perform the second of its scheduled three productions this year at the library. The month's offering is Shakespeare's historic drama, "Henry V" on Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm.  The performance, co-sponsored by the Square One Theatre Company, is free and open to the public.

Written in 1559, "Henry V" has been reinterpreted and deconstructed in each generation to suit the feel of its time. Hudson Shakespeare takes the approach to concentrate on the man at the center of it all - Henry V, and the personal struggle of living up to satisfy the needs of his country, his father's legacy, his peers, his soldiers and, most of all, to himself.  The play opens shortly after the death of the former king who, himself, had taken the crown in a fierce rebellion. Henry is now faced with the question of waging war on France to claim lands that belong to his family. In a tense opening gambit, the inexperienced king fends off influential clergy, nobles who want him dead, family who think he's not up to task and the French who think he's an ineffectual boy.

 "Henry V" will be performed outdoors in the Stratford Library Amphitheatre on Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm.  Patrons should bring a lawn chair or blanket to spread prior to the 2 pm show time.  In the event of rain or extreme heat, performances will take place in the library's air-conditioned Lovell Room.

            For further information, call the Stratford Library Public Relations and Programming Office at 203.385.4162 or visit: http://www.stratfordlibrary.org/.

 

Editor's note: All information in this post was contributed. It is unedited here.

In the photo: Henry (Jimmy Pravaselis) wrestles with his duty and himself on the eve of battle in the Hudson Shakespeare production of "Henry V" at the Stratford Library on July 23.