William Shakespeare would have felt right at home with Chicago politics. What followed the funeral of the late Mayor Washington, for instance, was a typically Shakespearean scenario, complete with crowd scenes, rival factions, and speeches of impassioned concern for the public welfare, resulting, finally, in a back-room deal made while most of the populace slept. Some of them might be surprised to know it, but local aldermen have consistently performed like Shakespearean characters.
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As centerpiece of the second International Theatre Festival, the English Shakespeare Company is bringing Shakespeare’s history cycle on the Wars of the Roses to the Auditorium Theatre May 3 to 28. The cycle consists of Richard II; Henry IV, parts one and two; Henry V; Henry VI, parts two and three; and Richard III. According to festival promoters, this will be the first time the entire sequence has been staged for an American audience. The resulting marathon promises an impact not unlike that of the ancient Dionysian theater festivals that ran from dawn to dusk for days on end.
The first two Lancaster monarchs were Henry IV, who clamped a lid on simmering rebellion, and his son Henry V, who deflected public passions with successful military adventures in France. However, the third Lancaster ruler, Henry VI, who inherited the crown as a child, could not cope with the harsh realities of court. His reign was dominated by self-serving dukes and a ruthless queen. Now the duke of York claimed his right to the throne. on the basis of a prior right of succession that had been suppressed by Henry IV. But the real advantages enjoyed by the York challenge (represented by the white rose) were the weakness of character of Henry VI and the superior strength of the Yorkists among the powerful barons.
Shakespeare reveals the hidden laws that govern all manifestations of social chaos, from street gangs to civil war. While it has often been noted that Shakespeare molded history to his own dramatic purposes, nevertheless it’s remarkable how much the action sticks to the facts as recorded in Shakespeare’s chief source, Holinshed’s Chronicles of 1587.
