<\/a>James Palmer (left), director of “Henry V” for Theater Alaska, offers direction to actors and crew during a rehearsal Wednesday at the Filipino Community Hall. (Mark Sabbatini \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
“Henry V,” focusing on events related to the Battle of Agincourt in Northern France in the year 1415, depicts the namesake as new to the English throne as he ventures to the battlefield and defeats a superior French army. The cast of seven actors, most appearing as multiple characters, will be playing out the war tale in venues ranging from McPhetres Hall to the Mendenhall Valley Public Library — which Palmer said is consistent with Shakespeare’s concept of the production.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“He’s telling you he wants a small, tight-knit group of fierce actors to come and do this show,” he said. “He didn’t write it for a bunch of special effects and hundreds of soldiers. He wrote it for a pared-down group of actors who are lean and mean, and that aesthetic is also the theme of the play. Henry pulls together this disparate group of ragtag individuals and defeats the undefeatable army.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
While the size of the cast and venues for “Henry V” are modest, the sound for the production will be imposing with the sounds of battle and an originally composed soundtrack. Both are being provided by Matt Otto, who’s done previous sound work for Theater Alaska— but never seen “Henry V” — and said discussions about the prerecorded soundtrack ended up focusing on larger-than-life themes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We were talking about the references to God and religion, and the fact that it kind of feels like Henry’s anointed — not that he’s preordained to win the battle, but there’s an understanding that it’s successful because he’s chosen by God,” Otto said. “And so that inspired sort of a kind of choir sense to me, and put it in this big cathedral, to help invoke that kind of sense of the divine.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
As for putting the actors and audience into a field of fire — in an acoustic sense — Otto said the intent is to convey the worries of war to those inside the theater.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I want them to feel like it’s dangerous without overpowering the text,” he said. “So I want the actors to be able to feel like they’re in trouble, but when they’re performing I want the sound to meet their performance.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t