Salt Lake Shakespeare limits its company name to our fair city. But its "Henry IV, Part I" ventures all over Plantagenet-era England, and beyond.

It's the story of King Henry IV, fresh from ridding England of Richard II, who leads rebels from Scotland and Wales even as he laments prodigal son Prince Hal. You get a Lady Mortimer who speaks melodic Welsh, an Earl of Douglas with a fine Scottish brogue, a firebrand of a Hotspur and a Prince Hal weighing his options between duties as future king and the lure of another party in Eastcheap.

You also get one of the most vexing, if not maddening, versions of Sir John Falstaff courtesy of Paul Kiernan. In fact, if you're at all partial to the classic Falstaff portrayals by Orson Welles in the 1966 film Chimes at Midnight, or any of Anthony Quayle's installments on stage or Ambrose video, you'd best fasten your seat belts for a bumpy ride.

The controversy isn't in Kiernan's acting ability, accomplished and sure in its delivery with every line, but in the tone he brings to the character. Forget the earthy, jovial and slothful alcoholic cooking up some charming ruse toward his next libation.

Kiernan's Falstaff is a suave, studied and even caffeinated figure who seems more at home with a glass of exotic wine and a conversation of quick wits than some all-night rager at The Boar's Head Tavern. Never mind that seventh cup of sack. This Falstaff comes almost straight from the espresso bar.

Recalibrate your expectations surrounding this iconic figure, however, and you'll find ample rewards by the remainder of the cast. Andy Rindlisbach, an impressive talent who graduated from the University of Utah's Actor Training Program, navigates Prince Hal with equal portions party-boy flair and calculated foresight.

In the famous scene where he and Falstaff sound out the bounds of their friendship in alternating roles as King Henry IV, Rindlisbach's "I do, I will" at the prospect of banishing "plump Jack" reveal how even four small words can echo throughout an entire play.

Also on fine display is John Terry as Hotspur, the man who will eventually bring everything to a head at the battle of Shrewsbury against the king and Prince Hal. At times, thanks to Terry, director Hugh Hanson succeeds in making the political machinations and power plays that gird Shakespeare's work more persuasive than the scenes between Prince Hal and Falstaff.

It's possible, of course, that this critic's assessment of Falstaff wasn't at all shared by everyone. Laughs abounded during the July 16 evening performance, with Kiernan tossing off lines almost as if he were a stand-up comic in Elizabethan England.

If Salt Lake Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part I" can't lay claim as a great regional production of this history play, where it succeeds is in striking a new balance between its elements, and more than a few new notes, out of a familiar dramatic score. That alone should be worth your consideration.

bfulton@sltrib.com

Twitter: @Artsalt

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Salt Lake Shakespeare's 'Henry IV, Part I'

A respectable production of this beloved history play, but this Falstaff interpretation might upset some cherished notions of the character.

When » Reviewed July 16; runs through July 23, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinee July 23.

Where » Babcock Theatre, downstairs in the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City

Info » $10-$15, at 801-581-7100 or www.kingsburyhall.org.

Running time • Two hours 45 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.