Shakespearean Kings in Cycle at BAM: Modern themes of leadership & downfall
Actor Alex Hassell Speaks to Eagle About Complexity of the Plays
With an especially raucous presidential campaign season upon us, it’s an interesting time to reflect upon the lives of medieval kings. The Royal Shakespeare Company, in King and Country, a series of performances to be staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Harvey Theater, will be doing just that over the coming month.
A continuation of a tour that has taken the famous Stratford-upon-Avon theater troupe all over the United Kingdom and into China, King and Country trots out Shakespeare’s famous “Henriad,” the four histories dramatizing the lives of Kings Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V.
So how can modern audiences connect with the struggles of ancient monarchs?