This staging of 'Henry' is unremarkable, except for the title character

"Henry V" is not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Essentially a historical pageant celebrating the English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt, it's a piece of sentimental patriotism written when England was under threat of the Spanish Armada. Theatre in the Round's current production does little to justify its current revival.

There is much in the play that feels contemporary: the saber-rattling of a leader using religion to justify political ambition, for instance. But director Craig Johnson seems content to simply stage the scenes, offering little interpretation or perspective. The play is not strong enough to stand up to this kind of laissez-faire approach.

What has attracted great actors from Laurence Olivier to Kenneth Branagh to the role of Henry is a single scene, the St. Crispin's Day speech, where Henry exhorts his badly outnumbered soldiers to fight valiantly, ultimately winning the day.

Ian Miller plays the scene with power and passion. His performance is almost enough to save the production. He dominates the stage with a strong physical presence, an emotional depth and a sly wit.

The supporting cast is adequate, but little more. Few in the ensemble are truly adept at conveying the language, which further obscures the complex, disjointed plot.

Johnson is at his best staging the battle scenes. With limited resources, not to mention space, he and fight choreographer David Tufford creatively give a real feel of the war.

The one novelty of the production is dividing the solo role of Chorus amongst many voices of the ensemble. But rather than making the speeches more dramatic, this emphasizes the static narrative. And it doesn't help in sorting out the confusing parade of characters.

Ursula Bowden's simple set, including a floor map of the disputed territories, helps clarify the action, but the lighting of Richard Borgen is frequently unhelpfully dark. Kathy Pepmiller's costumes are extravagant and eye-catching, but like the production as a whole, do not come together with any kind of coherent vision.

William Randall Beard is a Minneapolis writer.