Hotspur (the excellent Ethan Hawke) is a case in point: he may, as his name implies, be both brave and bright, but his inability to control or hide his feelings detracts from his credibility and ultimately jeopardizes his survival. In this stage-managed show of command (a precursor to public relations), dissimulation, it becomes clear, is a critical factor. (The story is retold no fewer than four times in “Henry IV, Part I.”) Set in an era when the notion of the divine right of kings is losing its sway in the land, the play meditates on the development of a new kind of divinity-the pageant of self that we call glamour-to legitimatize authority and win the people’s allegiance. Henry IV (the expert Richard Easton) has usurped the throne of Richard II-a grab for power that preys both on his mind and on the legitimacy of his sovereignty. It is fascinating now, as it must have been then, to watch the forces of politics and play contend with each other. As a study of public and private rebellion, “Henry IV” is as savvy today as it was when the first part was minted, in the winter of 1596. It’s fast food for thought, but tasty nonetheless. Dakin Matthews’s adaptation of “Henry IV” (at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, under the direction of Jack O’Brien) stuffs Shakespeare’s two-part chronicle of the wayward Prince Hal’s succession to his troubled father’s throne into one almost four-hour evening-a hero sandwich of sorts.
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