Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – The Public Theater doubles down on Shakespeare: ROMEO AND JULIET at the Delacorte, and an ambitious all-Asian HENRY VI via NAATCO

• By drediman
• June 22, 2026
• No Comments

This summer, The Public Theater has truly doubled down on presenting Shakespeare to New York audiences, which is evidenced by its summer offerings so far, namely its Free Shakespeare in the Park offering of Romeo and Juliet — followed later in the summer by The Winter’s Tale — and an ambitious two-part Henry VI courtesy of NAATCO featuring an all-Asian cast (The Public’s Mobile Unit is also currently touring a compact production of As You Like It across the boroughs). As per usual, read on for my thoughts.

HENRY VI: A TRILOGY IN TWO PARTS
National Asian American Theatre Company (“NAATCO”) at The Public Theater
Through July 19

This past weekend, I took in NAATCO’s remounting of its ambitious production of Shakespeare’s Henry VI (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) at the Newman Theater at The Public Theater. For this staging, the trilogy that traditionally makes up the violent chronicle has been efficiently truncated down to two parts entitled “Foreign Fire” and “Civil Strife”.  Although considered some of the Bard’s lesser history plays (these relatively early works don’t quite have the depth of character-building nor the poetry of the other history plays), seeing Henry VI in its entirety gives audiences the opportunity to get a panoramic look at the churning political machinations — from the standpoints of both domestic discord (namely, the famous “War of the Roses”) and foreign policy and warfare — that chart a nation’s historical trajectory. Power and stability, Shakespeare suggests in these plays, are nothing if not fickle — an especially potent reminder in our current domestic and global political climate. As directed by Stephen Brown-Fried, this nearly six hour condensation — the cumulative running time between the two parts — smartly keeps the action moving at an exciting clip without sacrificing the dizzying details of the plot’s many twists and turns (given the plethora of characters and complex narrative, I would suggest you take in both parts in a single day to minimize confusion). Only with a few props and a pair of mobile staircases at his disposal, Brown-Fried manages to create, with resourceful theatrical imagination, a strikingly stylized world, complete with a parade of vividly wrought stage pictures. The large, unstintingly hardworking ensemble cast is made up of some of the most accomplished and talented Asian American actors working in New York theater today. And even if some performances/performers are stronger than others — veteran actors Mia Katigbak (Duke of Gloucester), Jon Norman Schneider (Henry VI), Teresa Avia Lim (Queen Margaret), and Rajesh Bose (Duke of York) are in particularly fine form — it’s a great pleasure to see these underserved actors in such non-traditional roles (the production is gender-blind, too), conveying Shakespeare’s elaborate and timely tale with commendable clarity, conviction, and unified point of view.

ROMEO AND JULIET
The Public Theater‘s Free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater
Through June 28

Currently playing simultaneously over at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park is Free Shakespeare in the Park’s production of Romeo and Juliet (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). Director Saheem Ali has updated the play to the present day, additionally resetting the play’s proceedings to the U.S./Mexican border — to lukewarm effect. The Capulets are an English-speaking family, while the Montagues have aligned themselves with the Spanish-speaking members of the community, who have been, as indicated by the staging, terrorized by ICE. Although conceptually intriguing, I found that the execution of this unnecessarily complicated overlay mostly distracted from the overall impact of Shakespeare’s oft-performed tragedy. Perhaps the most detrimental decision is the production’s bilingual element, which — apart from being inconsistently applied — unfortunately muddles the iconic love scenes between Romeo and Juliet instead of infusing them with urgency (in Ali’s vision of the play, Spanish is used as a sort of “love language” between the titular lovers). For better or worse, English titles would have been useful in the very least. That being said, the physical production, with its dessert expanse — littered with scattered grave stones — by set designer Maruti Evans is striking to look at. Dominating it all is a coldly menacing metaphorical wall on the other side of which are positioned towering statues of the Virgin Mary on one side, and a grim-reaper like figure on the other. As the central star-crossed lovers, Daniel Bravo Hernández makes for a dynamic and appealingly earnest Romeo, while Ra’Mya Latiah Aikens is polished if a bit bland as Juliet. As Lady Capulet, the typically wonderful LaChanze is ineffectual and seems to be acting in an altogether different play from her fellow company members. Tony-winner Francis Jue gives a characteristically sturdy performance as Friar Lawrence (Jue, in character, officiates a short wedding ceremony at the conclusion of each performance during the curtain call). But perhaps the finest performance of the production comes from another Tony-winner, Deirdre O’Connell, as the Nurse. O’Connell is an actress of astonishing guts and instinct, which she uses here to bring fiery gusto to a production that could use more of it.