Show last night

Went and saw Freehold's Engaged Theatre's production of "The Flower of England's Face: William Shakespeare's Henry IV" last night.  Played in the UW's Penthouse Theatre, (the first theatre in the round in the US) no air conditioning, hot as hell in there.  Great production.  (The Engaged Theatre Program takes Shakespeare into non-tradition venues such as prisons, youth detention facilities, and this one also went to Ft Lewis McChord and Harborview.) I was doing the ticket sales last night.

I hadn't read either "Richard II" nor the "Henry IV's" before, and it was elements of all three into two hours, so I was lost at times.  (It was from the death of Richard II to the crowning of Prince Henry.) That said the acting was solid across the board, but the two stand-outs for me were Christine Marie Brown as Hotspur/Doll Tearsheet and Reginald Andre Jackson as Prince Henry.  Christine Marie Brown is amazing.  I'd seen her do a brief solo performance at a faculty showcase in 2013 and thought that I wanted to work with her (I took a class with her) and she's part of the Sandbox Radio Collective which do live "radio" shows around town (I think they might be podcasts) as well as the Endangered Species Project (which are staged readings) but not in a full production of a play.  I wish I were seeing her around town more in shows, she's incredible.  They are both incredible.  (I have so far to go.)

I wasn't feeling well, and had wanted to stay for the talk-back but left to catch a bus.  Wasn't actually sure I'd make it through the whole thing.  It's playing through the weekend.  I suppose I could read up on it more and go see it again.  It's supposed to cool down a bit.