Cast Announced for 'Henry V' at Hartford Stage

Ensemble cast includes Karen Aldridge, Miles Anderson, Kate Forbes, Peter Francis James, Felicity Jones Latta, and Baron Vaughn

HARTFORD, CT — Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts announced today the cast and creative team for Henry V, which will be performed Thursday, October 11, through Sunday, November 11. Stephen Louis Grushportrays the English king.

Henry V will be the first Shakespeare production, and the second play overall, in Hartford Stage’s 55-year history to be staged in the round. In addition to Grush, the ensemble cast – comprised of half men and half women – features Karen Aldridge as Exeter, Miles Anderson as Pistol, Kate Forbes as the Constable of France and Burgundy, Peter Francis James as the Chorus and Sir Thomas Erpingham, Felicity Jones Latta as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nym and Alice, and Baron Vaughn as Fluellen and Mistress Quickly. Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Williamson will helm the production, which marks her Shakespeare directorial debut for the Tony Award-winning theatre.

“Elizabeth Williamson has assembled a splendid company of actors and designers for her provocative and innovative staging of a Shakespeare masterpiece,” Tresnjak said.

In Henry V, shortly after gaining the throne, Henry must decide whether or not to embark on a war that could solidify his reign—or bring his country to its knees. In France, he grows up fast under the pressure to use all means necessary to win a war against tremendous odds. But even if he finds victory, how easy will it be to settle the peace?

Williamson previously directed the world premiere of Seder, by Sarah Gancher, and Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 at Hartford Stage. A dramaturg as well as a director, her credits include Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, which is transferring to London’s West End this fall, and the Hartford Stage world premieres of the Tony Award-winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder; Big Dance Theatre’s Man in a Case; Matthew Lopez’s Reverberation; Christopher Shinn’s An Opening in Time; Bess Wohl’s Make Believe; and the new musical Anastasia, currently on Broadway. She has served as dramaturg for many Shakespeare productions, including Hartford Stage’s Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Williamson has also worked with the American Conservatory Theater, HERE, La Jolla Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre Company, Primary Stages, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and many others.

Stephen Louis Grush (Long Day’s Journey into Night, Geffen Playhouse; Sex with Strangers, Geffen Playhouse and Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Romeo & Juliet, Chicago Shakespeare Theater) will make his Hartford Stage debut as Henry. Grush is joined by Karen Aldridge (Matilda the Musical, Broadway; Le Costume, The International Centre for Theatre Research; Twelfth Night, Chicago Shakespeare Theater) as Exeter; Miles Anderson(Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company; Oliver!, West End; Heartbreak House, Hartford Stage) as Pistol; Liam Craig (Boeing Boeing, Broadway; Seder, Hartford Stage; The Tempest, Shakespeare Theatre Company) as the French Ambassador, Bardolph, and Gower; Kate Forbes (Macbeth, Broadway; The Merchant of Venice, TFANA/Royal Shakespeare Company; Hamlet, Hartford Stage) as the Constable of France and Burgundy; Peter Francis James (On Golden Pond, Broadway; Much Ado About Nothing, The Public Theater; The Maids, Classic Stage Company) as the Chorus and Sir Thomas Erpingham; Felicity Jones Latta (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, National Tour; Metamorphoses, Broadway; Cymbeline,Hartford Stage) as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nym, and Alice; Anthony Michael Lopez (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, National Tour; Othello, New York Theatre Workshop; The Penalty, The Public Theater) as the Dauphin and MacMorris; Nafeesa Monroe (Hello Herman, Pioneer Theatre Company; Proof, Quick Silver Theater Company and CiC Theater; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Shakespeare & Company) as the King of France, le Fer, and Bates; Jamie Rezanour (Queens for a Year, Hartford Stage; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Classical Theatre of Harlem; Our Town, Milwaukee Repertory Theater) as Montjoy, Orleans and Cambridge; Evelyn Spahr (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, New York Theatre Workshop; Uncle Vanya, Harold Clurman Laboratory; Remarkably Normal, National Tour) as Katherine and Boy; and Baron Vaughn (Damn Yankees, New York City Center; Drowning Crow, Manhattan Theatre Club; Grace and Frankie, Netflix) as Fluellen and Mistress Quickly.

Mark Lawrence, Haley Tyson, and Reid Williams, students at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, have been cast in the Ensemble.

In addition to Williamson, the creative team includes Set Designer Nick Vaughan (Seder and Cloud 9 at Hartford Stage); Costume Designer Beth Goldenberg (Queens for a Year, Hartford Stage; Engagements, Second Stage Theater); Lighting Designer Stephen Strawbridge (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hartford Stage; Passion Play, Yale Repertory Theatre); Sound Designer Matt Hubbs (Indecent, Broadway; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, American Repertory Theater); Composer/Original Music by Christian Frederickson (Sound design for The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, Hartford Stage; Composer, Trojan Women (After Euripedes), SITI Company). Yan Chen, Hartford Stage Artistic Apprentice, will serve as Dramaturg.

Robyn M. Zalewski (A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Lesson from Aloes at Hartford Stage) will serve as Production Stage Manager, with Nicole Wiegert as Assistant Stage Manager (A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Lesson from Aloes at Hartford Stage).

Sponsors

Henry V is part of Shakespeare in American Communities, a national theatre program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
The Executive Sponsor is The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation.
The Assisting Production Sponsors are Federman, Lally & Remis and Hinckley Allen LLP.
The 2018/19 Season is also sponsored by the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

Special Dates

Previews begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, October 11
Opening Night: 8 p.m., Friday, October 19
Closes: 2 p.m., Sunday, November 11

Tickets & Performances

Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun at 7:30 pm—Fri, Sat at 8 pm—Sat, Sun at 2 pm
Wed matinee at 2 pm on October 24 only.
Weekly schedules vary. For details, visit www.hartfordstage.org.

Tickets for all shows start at $25. Student tickets: $18.
For group discounts (10 or more), email groupsales@hartfordstage.org or call 860-520-7125.
For all other tickets, please call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.

Special Events

• Sunday Afternoon Discussion, October 21. Enjoy a lecture from artists and scholars connected with the production immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. Free
• AfterWords Discussion—Tuesday, October 23; Wednesday, October 24; and Tuesday, October 30. Join members of the cast and our Artistic staff for a free discussion, immediately following select 7:30 p.m. performances on Tuesday or the 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee.
• Open Captioned Performances—Sunday, October 28, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. For patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss — free service with admission.
• Audio Described Performance—Saturday, November 3, 2 p.m. For patrons who are blind or have low vision — free service with admission.