SOURCE: Brantley, Ben. Review of Henry VIII. New York Times (27 June 1997): C3.

In the following review of director Mary Zimmerman's 1997 production of Henry VIII, Brantley praises Jayne Atkinson's sympathetic Queen Katherine, but finds that the remainder of the cast members were unable to offer compelling interpretations of character. Brantley also comments favorably on the stage design, costuming, and blocking of the performance.

Sometimes nature, not always known for its helpful stagecraft, can show a masterly sense of theatrical timing. In a recent performance of the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Henry VIII, which officially opened last night at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, a brisk wind swept the stage just as the wronged Katherine of Aragon (the first of Henry's six wives) was pleading that the monarch not divorce her.

The trees in the park seemed to sigh in sympathy as Katherine, played by Jayne Atkinson...