SOURCE: Barbour, David. Review of Henry VI. TCI: The Business of Entertainment Technology and Design 31 (February 1997): 6-7.

In the following review, Barbour observes that the scenery and direction of Karin Coonrod's production of the Henry VI series reflects the bloodshed that has occurred in modern warfare in such places as Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Each age gets the Shakespeare it deserves. For centuries, the most prized of the Bard's works have been the straightforward comedies, tragedies, and histories. More recently, modern audiences have embraced the so-called “problem plays,” works like Cymbeline, Measure for Measure, and The Winter's Tale, which blend dark comedy with elements of drama and fantasy, and such violent works as Titus Andronicus.

Then there's the Henry VI trilogy. These three works span the gap between the national epic Henry V and the melodramatic Richard III. But the three Henry VI plays, a long, complex chronicle of...