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WAR.
SO FUNNY IT HURTS.
ST. CRISPIN'S DAY
by Matt Pepper
directed by Kevin Christopher Fox
September 26, 2009
through October 31
Friday 8pm, Saturday 4pm & 8pm, Sunday 7pm
Tickets $20 ($15 student/senior)
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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 ... 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. |
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— Chicago Reader |
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Publicized with the apropos tagline, "War. So Funny it Hurts," St. Crispin’s Day marks a hilarious opening to Strawdog Theatre Company’s 22nd season. The tirelessly irreverent troupe stages a raucous and riotous historical comedy directed by Kevin Christopher Fox, making his Strawdog debut. Fox’s fresh perspective results in a nonstop, action packed, down and dirty (quite literally) take on battlefield dynamics. |
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— EDGE Chicago |
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It’s the eve of The Battle of Agincourt, and Henry V prepares to lead a beleaguered band of peasants to a glorious and indelible place in history. Or it’s the eve of The Battle of Agincourt, and some tyrant is about to force a bunch of savage morons to get themselves killed in an unjust land grab.
In the trenches with some of Shakespeare’s lowest and funniest characters, an Irishman named Will urges his brothers in arms to attack the real source of their misery: the bastard wearing the English crown. But can the likes of Pistol and Bardolph forget about French prostitutes and looting churches long enough to change history?
Strawdog is thrilled to present the Midwest premiere of a play Time Out New York called “sharp and often wickedly funny,” and The New Yorker described as a “vibrant disquisition on what it means to be a fighting man.” Helmed by Kevin Christopher Fox, director of Timeline Theatre’s Widowers' Houses and The Gift Theatre's smash hit The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, St. Crispin's Day is one war you actually do need to rush into. |
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