NAU’s Crooked Figure Theatre production casts female lead for ‘Henry V’

poster for Crooked Figure Theater, William Shakespeare's Henry V Directed by: Christina Gutierrez-Dennehy

The king is a woman in the Crooked Figure Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s “Henry V” on June 17-19 at the Museum of Northern Arizona.

“Henry V” is a play about a ruler attempting to make sense of what it means to rule, and what it means to conquer. This production is a dramatic workshop production reading created to explore the effects of casting a female Henry.

“This production is one of the first–if not the first–in the play’s 400-year history to feature a female actor playing a female King Henry,” said Christina Gutierrez-Dennehy, director and theatre lecturer at Northern Arizona University. “We hope to produce a full version of the show next summer at a site-specific location.”

Crooked Figure Theatre is made up of NAU students and faculty members who are interested in direct storytelling and site-specific, relevant productions of both classic and contemporary texts.

“Henry V” is Crooked Figure Theatre’s first production and takes place in the Museum of Northern Arizona courtyard that will be transformed into Henry’s court and battlefield.

The “Henry V” workshop production reading is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19, at the Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Fort Valley Road in Flagstaff. The event is free and open to the public. For information, go to Henry V Presented by Crooked Figure Theatre.