Henry Hereafter by Hal D Stewart
Saturday 30 June 2007
part of the 2007 Stevenage Festival
Gordon Craig Theatre at 7.45pm

Knebworth Players reprised a show they last staged four years ago when they performed as part of the 2007 Stevenage Festival.

Saturday 30th June saw them performing the one act play Henry Hereafter at the Gordon Craig Theatre.  The show was part of  Stevenage Festival’s showcase of local performing arts talent that included junior members of the Lytton Players and a jazz group.

The cast of Henry comprised some who were in the original production together with some new members.

Rob Ward padded himself out to complete his transformation into a jovial, beguiling and somewhat confused Henry VIII who unexpectedly finds himself in the disconcerting position of being in the same room as all his ex wives at the same time! The ‘room’ in question is the waiting area between heaven and hell.  Henry and his wives find themselves being questioned by the local Seraph in order to establish who should ultimately end up in heaven and who should go to hell.

Pretty soon the comments and jibes are flying between Henry and his ex’s as the wives vie for pole position in the pecking order.  There’s no love lost between the haughty Catherine of Aragon (Barbara Holgate-Stuckey) and the rest of the wives. Anne Boleyn (Alison Levesley) and Catherine Howard (Lesley Shadbolt) are the cousins who renew their acquaintance and compare experiences of having one’s head lopped off (a sword apparently being the preferred method to an axe!). Catherine Parr (Liane Welch) gave a lovely performance as the experienced, flirty wife – the only one who really understood Henry.  None of the wives had much time for Jane Seymour (a super performance by young newcomer (Emily Porter) who snivelled her way through the entire experience.  And Anne of Cleves (Lorraine Van Goethem) finally appeared in the midst of them all to proudly point out that she was the only one to receive a pension AND be buried in Westminster Abbey!

In the end the Seraph (Wayne Jarvis) decides it would be unfair to spend the rest of time in the company of all his wives – but who will ultimately end up in heaven and who in hell?  The final decision is clearly a shock to all the wives!

The fabulous costumes, hired from Harlequin Costumes in Baldock looked wonderful and really added to the authentic feel of the piece.  

The set, though deliberately sparse to depict the space between heaven and hell, was very effective and the construction team (Robert Van Goethem and David Holgate-Stuckey) did a brilliant job in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Gordon Craig theatre.

Here’s to the next Stevenage Festival!

 Barbara Holgate-Stuckey