Ian McKellen has had an amazing career. He found fame well over 50 years ago with his performance as Richard II and then went on to play many other major Shakespearian roles: Hamlet, Romeo, Macbeth, Leontes, Coriolanus, Iago, Richard III, King Lear, Prospero. And now, aged 84 and still going strong, he is playing Sir John Falstaff, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly.
Player Kings is Robert Icke’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I & II into one long play, which he also directs. The main reason for seeing these two history plays has always been for Falstaff, a great comic character, a man who is not only witty in himself but who is the cause of wit in others.
He is a superb entertainer, one of the best stand-up comics and raconteurs in the business. His gross obesity, his cowardice and his extravagant lies have always been good for a laugh. He is hilarious when he boasts how he fought with eleven men all day when his listeners know full well that he fought with only two men and immediately ran away.
There are two other great scenes. The first is when Falstaff and Hal, Prince Harry, the future King Henry V, engage in mock-interviews, which end with Hal’s magnificent and devastating condemnation of Falstaff. The second, and most moving, is when Hal, now Henry V, publicly humiliates him (“I know thee not, old man”) and banishes him.
Falstaff is a totally unacceptable companion for the heir-apparent. He preys on the poor, the weak and the defenceless, filling his pocket with their bribes. During the civil war, he is totally indifferent to the fate of the soldiers under his command. Only three out of the original 150 survive. He fleeces an old friend to the tune of £1,000. His behaviour on the battlefield is despicable.
Ian McKellen, inevitably, is the production’s major asset and the other characters, apart from Hal, are much diminished. Toheeb Jimoh as Hal has his most affecting moment when he acknowledges the Lord Chief Justice was right to censure him for his bad behaviour.
Icke sets the play in modern times, which doesn’t really work. Player Kings lasts 3 hours 40 minutes plus an interval, which is far too long and needs to be cut. The set is unappealing and the scenes, which do not feature Falstaff, fall flat.
Icke’s best and most original joke is when the curtain comes down too soon in a famous scene and it has to be halted and go up again.
In July, Player Kings, following its London run, can be seen in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle. For more information and tickets follow this link.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website. 
