King Henry takes on Queens

For the past two years, The Secret Theatre has provided residents of Long Island City with intimate productions of some of the most renowned theater classics of all time. Located on 23rd Street, in the heart of Long Island City, The Secret Theatre, with Artistic Director and Owner Richard Mazda at the helm, strives to offer theatergoers an alternative to the mass hysteria that is Midtown theatre. Long Island City provides the perfect setting for such a venture.

Its newest undertaking, The Queens Players’ production of William Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” opened on Sept. 17. (Past productions include “As You Like It,” “Macbeth,” and “Hamlet.”)

“Henry V,” chronicling the life of the King of England during England’s conflict with France in the early 15th century, is one of Shakespeare’s most daunting works. Taking a cue from the prologue to “Henry V”—a proclamation of the necessity of the audience’s imagination in theater—Director Rich Ferraioli has based much of his design and themes on this idea.

As such, the play will not rely on props or even costumes to draw the audience into the world of Henry V. Instead, the actors will all be clad in casual attire. Through this device, Ferraioli hopes to explore the roles that members of the audience play on each and every day of their normal lives, just as Henry has to prove his worth in the role of the King of England.

In a theater season marked by such Shakespeare productions as “Hamlet” with Jude Law and “Othello” with Philip Seymour Hoffman, a smaller, more intimate look at one of Shakespeare’s lesser-produced epics may be just what audiences need. Plus, the $15 price tag is hard to beat.