Virginia Hammer, Artistic Director: I was given plenty of rejection during my 11-month search for the right, large space for "Henry VI". "Henry" was oft pronounced not radical enough. Hey: Shakespeare, staged "pure", is often radical nowadays. Pure and simple. No schtick, easy on the 21st century irony / comments. Sure, update it, make it more "relevant" sometimes; but LET THE "CONCEPT" SERVE THE CHARACTERS and story, 1st and foremost, not clog it up. WS is pretty whole-hearted. I'm not advocating a $5 set and everybody in black bodysuits. But WS's characters think and feel very fully; isn't truly using those words, enough?

I was lucky to be raised, 1973 – 1983, on trips to Stratford, Ontario’s Golden Age. I’m blest and cursed with the memories of Maggie Smith, William Hutt, other international stars and a company the NY Times called the best on the North American continent. The audience were riveted to the stage. Maggie Smith’s Rosalind is still the greatest performance I’ve ever seen.

Let’s get out of the way of those magic words! Highly trained actors, familiar with WS’ demanding idiom, with the requisite physical and mental energy to rock him on a live stage; astute directors, good production values that help those words, not overshadow them: that’s our responsibility. Modern writers, new writers, the classics: their people are us all. They’re enough. Who knew?

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