 Welles avoided attending the rehearsals or finishing the play 's final script and instead often went out drinking and socializing with co @-@ star Meredith , with the result that only specific scenes or fragments of the play were ever rehearsed . The Baltimore performance was eventually dropped and at the first dress rehearsal in Boston , it was discovered that the play was over five and a half hours long and contained 46 scenes . Welles cut 14 scenes and shortened others , which caused the built @-@ in timer for the revolving set to move out of synchronization . Five Kings , Part 1 premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Boston on February 27 , 1939 , and was a disaster . Critics were either scathing or apologetic , and only the play 's battle scenes received praise . By the end of the Boston run , the Theatre Guild was on the verge of dropping the production , and canceled the D.C. engagement . Welles then edited the show to three and a half hours . The play closed after only a few performances in Philadelphia , and the Theatre Guild terminated its contract with the Mercury Theater . Photographs of the play 's rehearsals show similarities to Chimes at Midnight , including the Boar 's Head Tavern set and the character blocking of the " chimes at midnight " scene with Falstaff , Shallow and Silence . 
