Review by Rowena Hawkins, MA Shakespeare Studies

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s King and Country plays, Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, and Henry V, currently running in cycles at the Barbican Centre are tied together by a succession of kings spanning forty years of English history. From the fall of David Tennant’s Richard II to Alex Hassell’s valiant victory at the battle of Agincourt as Henry V via Antony Sher’s side-achingly funny Fallstaff, the productions are linked not only by chronology and themes of epic loves and epic power struggles; they share Stephen Brimson Lewis’ striking design and Tim Mitchell’s lighting techniques.

The RSC’s small but mighty lighting installation This Realm, This England features a curtain of metal beads, a scaled down version of those hanging about the sets of all four plays, which a projection of arches turns into an almost holographic cathedral. In the productions, plates are mounted on lights to project images onto the curtains to create settings and storms, to reflect mood and emotions, or to signify the passage of time or the start of a new scene. Under a warm glow it looks like the glittering gold decoration of a sumptuous court but under a harsh steely light it can evoke a soldier’s chainmail as he charges into battle; projections can turn it into an ethereal cathedral or a dangerous forest. As well as offering a peek behind the scenes, the exhibition features a looping recording of scenes from across the cycle to demonstrate the impressive versatility of the design.

Here’s what reviewers had to say about the design in performance:

Evening Standard, Richard II, Barbican Theatre, London, 13 December 2013 – “Stephen Brimson Lewis provides a striking, at times holographic set of shimmering gauze; it’s a fittingly ethereal design for an inward-looking play that mulls on the divine right of kings.” (http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/richard-ii-barbican-theatre-review-9002608.html)

Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard, Henry V, Barbican Theatre, London, 24 September 2015 – “The stage is largely bare; Stephen Brimson Lewis’s design consists predominantly of shimmering holograms.” (http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/henry-v-theatre-review-harry-for-our-times-a2955006.html)

Susannah Clapp, The Observer, Henry V, Barbican Theatre, London, 22 November 2015 – “Stephen Brimson Lewis’s striking set, which glimmers under Tim Mitchell’s lighting so that ecclesiastical arches seem to grow out of a briar-scored sky.” (http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/nov/22/henry-v-barbican-review-rsc-oliver-ford-davies-steals-show)