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It’s Good to Be King: New Actor in Town Wears the Crown of ‘Henry V’ at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Elijah Jones plays the titular king in “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Jeff Sciortino)Elijah Jones plays the titular king in “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Jeff Sciortino)

It’s not often a youthful out-of-town actor lands their first role in Chicago and gets cast as the ruler of England. At a Tony Award-winning theater, no less.

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Elijah Jones must have impressed Chicago Shakespeare Theater with the same charisma he projects onstage as the titular king in “Henry V,” a lively production of Shakespeare’s history play about war between France and England. Jones made a strong impression on the opening night audience, even if he was a stranger to most of us in attendance.

It bodes well for the new era at Chicago Shakespeare, because new artistic director Edward Hall personally chose Jones to lead a vivid cast of veteran actors and new faces.

But who is Elijah Jones? He doesn’t have a Tony Award, and he isn’t in a hit movie or TV show, but there’s time.

WTTW News spoke with the Juilliard-trained actor about his past, present and future.

This interview had been edited for length and clarity.

WTTW News: This role has been played by actors from Laurence Olivier to Kenneth Branagh. How do you approach famous lines like ‘once more unto the breach’ or the ‘band of brothers’ speech?

Elijah Jones: To be honest, I’d never seen a production of ‘Henry V’ before. I was only familiar with the St. Crispin’s Day speech [‘band of brothers’] because it’s a monologue I auditioned with for grad schools. So I was coming in as a blank slate. I had to find my own version of this role, and I was fortunate that I didn’t have too many other Henrys in my head.

What do you have in common with King Henry? Youth, pride?

Jones: What I strongly identify with Henry, where I meet him, is in his perseverance. One thing that drew me to the character is that despite overwhelming odds, he stays the course. He stays committed to his mission, to what he believes he’s being called to do even in the face of dire circumstances. He’s facing 10,000 French troops. He’s greatly outnumbered, and he continues. So I think he and I are similar in that we will pursue our goals against all odds.

The cast of “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Liz Lauren)The cast of “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Liz Lauren)

Do you have a favorite moment or line from “Henry V”?

Jones: Absolutely, my favorite line in the show is ‘We are in God’s hand, brother, not in theirs.’ That line just implies so much about life. We can get caught up in trying to impress certain people or keep up with trends. That line is a great reminder for me personally that this life is bigger than any one person or thing.

I was surprised to find out that you haven’t done theater in Chicago before.

Jones: Yes, it is my very first time onstage in Chicago. I actually auditioned for Juilliard here in Chicago back in 2017, and that was the only other time that I’ve been to the city.

You’ve been busy with Henry, but have you had a chance to explore Chicago?

Jones: I have not had any time because of rehearsals, but now that the show is open, I have my days back and I’m hoping to see more of the city. Somebody did take me to get my first Chicago-style hot dog. It was excellent, OK? I was a little nervous, because I don’t know that all these things belong on a hot dog. But y’all swear that this is good, so I tried it, and it lived up to the hype.

Now you gotta get some pizza.

Jones: That’s the next thing, hopefully sooner than later.

You grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and studied theater at Penn State.  Did your family support your studies, or did they want you to have a backup plan?

Jones: [laughs] Yeah, they were like, ‘Get that dual degree in case this acting thing doesn’t work out.’ Against their wishes I did not get that dual degree. Once I got into Juilliard they were like, ‘Alright, maybe this guy’s got something.’ I don’t come from a particularly artistic family, so I’m kind of an outlier. They were like ‘Acting is cool, but you need a backup plan,’ and I was just like ‘Aah, do I?!’

Have they come to Chicago to see the show?

Jones: My parents and my younger sister came to the opening. I’ve had a few friends come to Chicago to see it, and I have more coming in later in the run.

Elijah Jones plays the titular king in “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Liz Lauren)Elijah Jones plays the titular king in “Henry V” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Liz Lauren)

Walk us through how you got the part.

Jones: I just got an audition notice in my inbox. They wanted a monologue on tape, and it didn’t have to be from ‘Henry V.’ Just put a Shakespeare monologue on tape, and I ended up doing the St. Crispin’s Day speech for my initial audition. A week went by, and I got an email saying they wanted me to fly to Chicago to work with Ed [Edward Hall, new artistic director at Chicago Shakespeare]. I flew out a couple of weeks later and worked with Ed one-on-one. Then I flew back to New York, and after a few days, my agents called and said they wanted me to play the role.

Boom, just like that. What were you like as a kid? An alpha, a born leader?

Jones: No, as a kid I was very shy. I don’t know if I’m shy anymore, but I’m still very reserved. If I’m a leader, I’d say it’s more in my actions. Henry has these incredible speeches that he gives. I’m not necessarily going to give a motivating speech, but I’m going to show up and be prepared every day and try to lead by the things that I do instead of the things that I say.

Favorite actors?

Jones: Oh, yeah. Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Don Cheadle, Mahershala Ali, Sterling K. Brown, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nicole Beharie. I have quite a long list!

OK, this isn’t Shakespeare-related, but… Drake or Kendrick Lamar?

Jones: [big laugh] OK, did somebody put you up to this?

No, I just saw something about it on your social media.

Jones: This is hilarious, because this has been a theme amongst me and a couple of my castmates for quite a while now. I’m riding out with Drake. I can talk about this all day, but the short answer is Drake.

Fair enough. I’m sticking with Kendrick. Any parting words?

Jones: I’m fortunate to be surrounded by such an incredible cast of actors and also people backstage — stage management, our director. Everybody’s been so supportive from the jump that it’s made being king rather easy. I’m just loving my time here.

“Henry V” runs through Oct. 6 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier.


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