Theatre Studio Ensemble: King Henry VI Part 2

By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by Dr. Danielle Rosvally 

Real Housewives meets Game of Thrones in Shakespeare’s Henry VI ii. When Henry, King of England, marries Margaret of Anjou the English court begins to question Henry’s leadership and divides their support between the Houses of Lancaster (Henry) and York. Margaret plots with her secret lover (Suffolk), the Duke of York leads a rebellion, and the War of the Roses begins.

UB’s production will be an Original Practice experiment. 

Original Practice (or “OP”) attempts to mimic certain historical production conditions to better understand how shows looked, sounded, and felt in Shakespeare’s time. Elizabethan actors worked under incredibly tight time constraints – sometimes with only four days of rehearsal. This production will experiment with the possibilities of spontaneity and improvisation using Shakespeare’s text as base. To bring this cinematically scaled history to life, UB’s actors will play between four and six roles each. Each actor will be cast in two tracks. Before every performance, a coin flip will determine which track they play that evening.

Director Dr. Danielle Rosvally is documenting her behind-the-scenes process on TikTok. You can find these videos http://www.tiktok.com/@yassifiedshax (look for “Directing Henry” in the video banner).