Friday, October 5, through Saturday, October 13
QC Theatre Workshop, 1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport IA
An unforgettable tale of a ruthless race to power and the love affair that threatened to upend it, the historical drama Henry VIII: All Is True will be staged by verse-theatre troupe the Prenzie Players at Davenport's QC Theatre Workshop October 5 through 13 – the first area staging of ths 17th Century play in decades, and a work believed to be either the final or penultimate play written by William Shakespeare.
Henry VIII opens with the Duke of Norfolk telling the Duke of Buckingham of a meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. On the instigation of Cardinal Wolsey, Buckingham is arrested for high treason, but Queen Katharine interrupts the Buckingham's indictment to demand that the king undo a tax imposed by Wolsey to finance the French war. Not long after, at a party held by Wolsey, Henry meets Anne Boleyn and quickly falls in love. Questioning the legality of his marriage to Katharine – arguing that because she is the widow of his brother, it is technically incest – Henry sets up a tribunal presided over by Wolsey and the papal representative Cardinal Campeius. What happens next would eventually change England and the world forever, and Shakespeare's play explores of one of history’s most well-known love triangles in a timeless tale of love, lust, and political ambition.
Although Henry VIII: All Is True marks Alaina Pascarella's directing debut for the Prenzie Players, she is no stranger to Shakespeare, having appeared in such works as King John and Pericles, Prince of Tyre for the Prenzies and The Merry Wives of Windsor and Measure for Measure for Genesius Guild. Payton Brasher, of the Prenzie Players' As You Like It and Coriolanus, portrays Henry VIII opposite Kitty Israel's Katharine and Anna M. Schneider's Anne Boleyn, and nine additional area talents complete Pascarella's ensemble: Andrew Bruning, Michael Carron, Kate Farence, Mischa Hooker, Collin Jost, Angela Rathman, Joe Sager, Liz Sager, and John Wright.
Henry VIII: All Is True runs October 5 through 13 at Davenport's QC Theatre Workshop, with performances at 8 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $12 in advance and $15 at the door, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)484-4210 or visiting PrenziePlayers.com.
