Brew With the Bard Returns
Here at Tucson Fringe, we’ve always had a soft spot for Bill the Bard. In fact, we started a pub crawl many years ago to celebrate his birthday. We haven’t held this event since 2019. We’ve had a few setbacks, but Brew With the Bard is returning. Save the date Sunday, May 7, we’ll be showing a film at The Screening Room in downtown Tucson called “Chimes at Midnight” (1966). Showtimes are 2pm and 5pm. Tickets are $7.
Synopsis: When King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff’s eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V. The film was written and directed by Orson Welles. Below are a few more details about the film from the studio’s website.
“The crowning achievement of Orson Welles’s later film career, Chimes at Midnight returns to the screen after being unavailable for decades. This brilliantly crafted Shakespeare adaptation was the culmination of Welles’s lifelong obsession with the Bard’s ultimate rapscallion, Sir John Falstaff, the loyal, often soused childhood friend of King Henry IV’s wayward son, Prince Hal. Appearing in several plays as a comic supporting figure, Falstaff is here the main event: a robustly funny and ultimately tragic screen antihero, played by Welles with lumbering grace. Integrating elements from both Henry IV plays as well as Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor, Welles created an unorthodox Shakespeare film that is also a gritty period piece, one that he called “a lament . . . for the death of Merrie England.” Poetic, philosophical, and visceral—with a kinetic battle sequence centerpiece as impressive as anything else Welles directed—Chimes at Midnight is as monumental as the figure at its center.”