The Second Part of Henry IV" is a play which acts a good deal better than it reads. Since the Brattle Theatre's present production is the first performance by an American professional company, the play's inherent actability is well-nigh a revelation--at least for American theatre goers. What is not a revelation is that the Brattle troupe is superbly suited for the rich and often slapstick humor of "Henry IV."

Shakespeare's power of characterization and realism is strongest in his treatment of the lower classes, and it is here that the comedy draws its chief interest. The high-flown poetry of Part I is absent, and it is left up to the actors themselves to develop Shakespeare's rough drafts of the comic characters. This is the Brattle staff does with consummate skill.

Jerry Kilty's Falstaff is superb. He dominates the stage with his boisterous amiability, and his cowardice is so patent that it almost seems a virtue. Perhaps it is the sympathy which Kilty arouses that makes Hal's rejection of him even harder to accept than usual.

The other comic characters are all foils to Falstaff, and many, are treated as caricatures rather than as characterizations. Bardolph, whose "zeal burns in his nose," and Doll Tearsheet, "as common as the way between St. Alban's and London," both get inspired treatment. The other comic characters join vigorously in the numerous brawls, and seem to get a good deal of fun out of it.

Caricature unfortunately does not work so well in the upper classes as in the lower. All the minor nobility seem to have fixed ideas of just how a Shakespearean actor gesticulates, and pattern their actions accordingly. Thayer David and John Lasell, however, happily have clear conceptions of the characters of Henry IV and Hal. The result is a subtle but clear change in the Prince's character which arises from his relationship with his father.

Robert O'Hearn's settings and the lighting effects of Miles Morgan contribute much to one's illusion of sitting right in the middle of the pit of the Globe Theatre. A large share of the credit for the hilarious comedy scenes is no doubt due to the direction of Albert Marre. He has created a comedy which the Brattle Theatre staff can well be proud of as their 50th Jubilee Production.