In the intimate black box Chain theater on West 36th Street (a location that would have amused the Bard, who knew something about cramped performance spaces), Adriana Alter and her Atlas Shakespeare Company have accomplished something approaching the miraculous with this performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VI.
Mark (Mark Moses) is a successful and, more importantly, DIVORCED lawyer living in Colorado. The kids are grown, and he is looking for a new chapter that may be sitting right in front of him. Helen (Melissa Gilbert) is a successful author with no children and no romantic relationship anywhere. The flame is rekindled, and the game is afoot. We see this coming from the opening moments. There is nothing new or intriguing here. There is quite a bit of cutesy that feels appliquéd. Neither of these characters is cutesy.
From the first act, the audience roared with laughter, proving Shakespeare’s imagination and understanding of human complexity transcends centuries. The play is presented as a fairy tale where intertwining plots and subplots keep you riveted by the action on stage.
