Nina Metz

Twelve men in white butcher smocks and asbestos masks casually lean against the steel, locker-like cages that ring the stage, idly sharpening their knives. It's the sound that gets you, that distinctive tinkle of metal brushing metal. This is how British director Edward Hall sets the mood for his production of "Rose Rage: Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 & 3," now decamped in all its bloody glory in the upstairs studio at Chicago Shakespeare. It is an exceptionally creepy and ominous stage picture, one that repeats itself after every intermission, of which there are many; the production runs almost five hours long, with a dinner break halfway through. But vegetarians may not have much of an appetite; the violent battles for the English throne during the second half of the fifteenth century are depicted by actors who thwack and mutilate animal entrails or, more thrillingly, smash to a pulp the heads of red cabbage. But it is the less flashier elements that resonate in this witty staging, and thankfully Hall does not shy away from moments of dark humor. The performance that stays with you is that of Jay Whittaker, as the Duke of Gloucester, the gimp to end all gimps, who sputters at the end, "I am myself alone," a sentiment that all but sums up the play in its entirety.

"Rose Rage: Henry IV Parts 1, 2 & 3" plays at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier at 800 East Grand Avenue, (312)595-5600, through January 18.

(2003-09-25)

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