Anne Boleyn
Howard Brenton
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| Craig Marker as Henry VIII & Liz Sklar as Anne Bolyen |
She was Queen of England, yet there is no portrait of her
since her husband and King scoured the country to destroy all traces of her
very existence. She was decapitated, but
exactly what she did to warrant (or not) such vile punishment is still an
argument among historians. What we think
we know about her is largely through the many plays, novels, films, and even an
opera telling her thousand days of reign as the most famous of Henry VIII’s six wives. Adding to that long line of
portrayals now comes Howard Brenton’s Anne
Boleyn in a stunning beautiful and exceptionally well-cast, well-directed,
and well-acted West Coast premiere at Marin Theatre Company. Spanning not only the years leading up to and
during her short, royal tenure but also the haunting effects she has on King
James I seventy years later, the play pages through both familiar and
fantasized history to inform and intrigue us about this momentous turning point
for England and the Western World as well as to initiate and instigate
parallels to the 21st Century, including even the present U.S.
presidential election.
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| Craig Marker & Liz Sklar |
Carrying a bag with an apparent, bulky sphere in it, Anne
Boleyn walks on stage and directly taunts the audience before rather playfully
showing the gruesome contents. From
those opening moments until the closing fading lights when a now-dead Anne can
rest her soul knowing she is in fact remembered, Liz Sklar captures in
captivating majesty the full gamut of the vulnerable human, the piously
religious, and the daringly political sides of this unlucky Queen. We become her confidants; and she looks to us
in the audience as the ones who can, along with her, validate the obvious, evil
plotting of a Cardinal Wolsey or the real attraction of a handsome, courting
King. The dignified, knowing manner she
holds herself is like that of a legitimate queen while the way she allows
herself to be swooped laughing and teasing into a king’s arms is certainly that
of a young woman in love. Her eyes are
piercing and her chin firmly set as she declares, “We are cutting England from
the Pope because of me,” but her voice is full of quiet resolve and eerie
premonition when she declares even before being crowned, “I would lose my life
than my honesty.” In the scenes of
Henry’s England, Liz Sklar is steely in her resolve as a lady of the court and
lover of the king to ensure Henry and England make a final break with
Rome. Interspersed throughout the
time-bouncing play, she is decades later mysterious, mystical, and moving as an
image in James’s mind who listens and advises him as a new king working to
resolve and heal some of the left-over, religious schisms due in some small, or
perhaps large part, to her earlier, Protestant-leaning vision. Overall, Ms. Sklar is an Anne Boleyn worthy of
joining a long line of actresses who have sought to fill in between the missing
lines of who this woman really was.
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| David Ari as George Valliers & Craig Marker as James I |
Equally royal in performance is Craig Marker as both King
Henry VIII and as King James I. When in
the broad-shouldered, fur-rich open coat we now most associate with Henry, Mr.
Marker struts, leaps, and stomps according to the mood required of this
bombastic king who is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure a male progeny. With his Anne, he tolerates and even delights
in her joking and teasing (like her mimicking Cardinal Wolsey as a baaing
sheep). With anyone who dares cross his
purposes, he roars with command and threatening vengeance and leaves no doubts
that this King will break any political or personal alliance to get his
will. As the newly crowned James, Mr.
Marker dons tight-fitting leather wear and tempts with devilish glees any
advisor to dare raise more than an eyebrow as he in drag kisses his
swish-hipped lover, George Villiers (the convincing David Ari). His James also relishes with almost childlike
enthusiasm the religious debates he sets in play between translators of his
commissioned Bible -- that is until their harangues over choices like ‘church’
or ‘congregation’ put him to sleep. But
there is a part of James that anguishes as a man possessed by images of a
castle-wandering, deposed Anne; and he desperately searches her for some
assurance, understanding, and guidance on how to lead this Church of England as
the new King. The images Craig Marker
leaves us as both monarchs are only matched by the memory we will long carry of
the loud, raucous, and individually distinct laughter that repeatedly comes
from both his kings.
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| Charles Shaw Robinson as Cardinal Wolsey & Liz Sklar as Anne Boleyn |
The stellar qualities of this cast extend to all its
members. Charles Shaw Robinson is
dripping-pompous in his robes and rings as well as his demeanor as the
power-grabbing Cardinal Wolsey and is patient with rolled eyes and generous
understanding as Lord Robert Cecil, counselor to the young James. Besides playing James’s handsome object of
forbidden but tolerated love, David Ari is also the fiercely calculating Thomas
Cromwell, advisor to Henry and yet another court member quite willing to leave
whatever body necessary by the wayside while making his own way up the ladder
of power (including that of a Queen).
Dan Hiatt is the hooded and hiding exile, William Tyndale, an advocate
of the outlawed Protestant movement who meets Anne in the woods to sing, pray,
and even shout “Martin Luther.” He later
is a scheming, suggesting Dr. John Reynolds who plays up to James’s desire to
do something great in his newly crowned state by suggesting he authorize a new
version of the Bible. Howard Swain is a
formidable debater of religious nit-picking in James’ Court, and Ryan Tasker is
Harry Barrow, another Puritan separatist and loud, stubborn theological arguer
providing his own of set opinions on the words still read today as holy. Arwen Anderson and Lauren Spencer await Anne
as loyal ladies but are also susceptible to turning against her when the evil
Wosley threatens them with his famed, basement rack. As a total ensemble, each person is well matched
to assigned roles; and the collective is so ably and astutely directed by Jasson
Minadakis.
That we are seeing history in the making is so wonderfully
established by Nina Ball’s latest in a long line of spectacular sets on local
stages, this surely being one of her very best.
Imagine a book in the museum shop where a page is opened, and up pops a
court scene. That is the look of the
intricately cut-out edges of the massive, receding arches of a royal court
rising above Marin’s deep and high stage where the only additional property
seen or needed is one, lone throne.
Magic happens on the walls of these arches and on the floors under them
through exquisitely beautiful lighting by Kurt Landisman. From shadowy chapels to magnificent
courtyards to forests full of giant trees, the lighting schemes prove to be a
powerful reason this production is so successful.
And certainly Ashley Holvick’s costumes created for two eras
cannot be overlooked -- costumes
speaking of another era but also designed with modern look and flair. The
short dresses of court ladies and the modern-looking pants of some male
hangers-on remind us that the religious prejudices, the menacing mixture of
state and religion, and the larger-than-life egos of those doing all they can
to grab and hang onto power in this play are all too similar to what we read
about daily in 2016. What we hear said
in James’s court could be coming from a Op-Ed of today’s NY Times: “Why is it what we do in the name of God is in the same
as in our own interest?”
Howard Brenton’s script is heavy in words, images,
analogies, and history – sometimes on the verge of too much of any and all of
these. But, with a cast like Marin
Theatre Company has assembled and with a production of the soaring quality that
is upon this stage, Anne Boleyn is
nothing short than theatre that is truly masterpiece through and through.
Rating: 5 E
Anne Boleyn continues
in extension through May 15 at
Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley CA, with a special
performance April 30 at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco (12 p.m.). Tickets for all performances are available
online at http://www.marintheatre.org or by calling the box office
Tuesday – Sunday, 12 -5 p.m.
Photos
by Kevin Berne
Six wives.
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