Falstaff, Kline, and more

Henry IV, Vivian Beaumont Theatre Kevin Kline wows 'em as Falstaff. Kline plays the rotund gadabout as a drunk Don Quixote, with a lazy grandeur well-suited to one who has few morals but much wit. This production brings both Parts I and II of the Henry IV plays together in one evening and manages to elide some less interesting passages while keeping the story of the King's decline and Prince Harry's rise succinct. While Richard Easton's King and Michael Hayden's Prince are the nominal subjects of the piece, the keys to the work are in the hands of two Hollywood regulars, Kline's Falstaff and Ethen Hawke's Hotspur. Yet though the contrast between Hotspur and Harry is the central narrative line of the drama, the only reason to bring the two plays into one is to illuminate the great and fated friendship between Falstaff and Harry.