SEE A SHALLOW HAL GROW IN 'HENRY IV, PART 1'.

Byline: Julio Martinez Correspondent

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE created his most cohesive historical drama when he penned the first of two chronicles focusing on the troubled reign of British monarch Henry of Bolingbroke. While thoroughly probing the weighty drama of a ruler facing rebellion from his own lords, the Bard enlivens the plot of ``King Henry IV, Part 1'' with the outrageous shenanigans of Henry's wayward son, Prince Hal (played by David Paul Wichert) and his dissolute pal, Sir John Falstaff (Jerry Kernion). Director Tara Flynn has overbalanced the proceedings to emphasize the comedy, which is buoyed by the captivating rapport established by Wichert and Kernion. But the production still manages to keep the throughline of Henry IV's (Patrick Gorman) struggles moving swiftly forward.

Though Shakespeare Festival/L.A. is best-known for staging its own annual multicultural productions of Shakespeare in such outdoor venues as Pershing Square and the steps of City Hall, they have now enlisted the talents of the ever-inventive Los Angeles-based Circle X Company to bring this tale of a career-anguished king and his callow son to life.

Employing her facile ensemble to great effect, Flynn makes excellent use of the SF/L.A.'s expansive rehearsal space to emphasize the epic sweep of Henry IV's struggle to maintain his monarchy. The play concludes with the body-strewn battle of Shrewsbury, which not only solidifies Henry IV's monarchy but sets the stage for the ascension of Prince Hal to his eventual crowning as King Henry V.

Underscored by the pulsating original score of Tim Labor, the royal friction is established quickly in the opening scene. The king is now facing a revolt by the same lords who helped place him on the throne to begin with. The revolt is led by the Earl of Northumberland (Hugh O'Gorman) and his valiant warrior son Henry Percy, also known as Hotspur (David Holmes). The ambivalent king understands the necessity of quashing the rebellion, but he can't help but admire the qualities in Hotspur that he finds so lacking in his own son, the ever-carousing Prince Hal.

Wichert establishes the dual personas of the deceptively underachieving Prince Hal to perfection. Though he superficially seems to be as flagrantly irresponsible as Falstaff, Wichert's Hal is decidedly standing outside himself, observing the frailties of his comrade and his besotted friends, knowing full well he will eventually grasp his destiny. When Hal finally decides it is time to come to the aid of his country, he quite believably rises to the stature that will eventually serve him as Henry V, one of the most successful and popular rulers in English history.

Kernion is a perfect Falstaff, whose hilariously comical posturing is only his device for survival. As he demurs from battle, he utters the eternal advice to all self-serving hypocrites, ``The better part of valor is discretion.''

HENRY IV, PART 1 - Three stars

Where: Shakespeare Festival/L.A. Studio, 1238 W. First St., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; through Sunday.

Tickets: Free. Reservations required. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Director Tara Flynn has emphasized the comedic shenanigans of Prince Hal and his disreputable pal Falstaff over the more somber intrigues rumbling about the court of Hal's father, King Henry IV, but the stellar Circle X ensemble still manages to get the Bard's point across.