Podcast: Geoffrey Kent and Benjamin Bonenfant of DCPA, Colorado Shakes
(Above: Geoffrey Kent plays Iago and Benjamin Bonenfant plays Henry V in high-profile Colorado Shakespeare Festival productions of Othello’ and ‘Henry V.’ Photo by John Moore.)
Actors Geoffrey Kent and Benjamin Bonenfant are well-known to DCPA and Colorado Shakespeare Festival audiences. But the summer of 2015 marks their rites of passage into playing significant (if very disparate) Shakespearean leaders. Kent is playing the villain Iago, Shakespeare’s largest role, in Othello, while Bonenfant is playing the rapscallion prince-turned-warrior in Henry V. While the roles span the moral gamut, both characters use honor as a weapon of persuasion. The pair talk with DCPA Senior Arts Journalist John Moore about their particular acting challenges and character justifications.
The pair are just two of the recognizable names from the DCPA performing or working at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival this summer. “Sam Gregory is tearing it up both as a pretty damn racist Brabantio in our Othello, and as our narrator for Henry V,” says Kent. Bonenfant adds: “You’ll also get to see (DCPA Head of Acting) Larry Hecht (as the King of France in Henry V). This is going to be his last performance in Colorado before he moves to the West Coast and we have to say goodbye to him.” Other recent Theatre Company actors performing in Boulder this summer include Peter Simon Hilton, Rodney Lizcano, Benaiah Anderson, Mare Trevathan and Martha Harmon Pardee.