Review by Dr. Aidan Elliott: Department of English

The Guardian’s theatre critic Michael Billington has described these two plays as Shakespeare’s greatest, and this latest interpretation by Greg Doran demonstrates why. At one level the plays are simply captivating because they show the power of words to simultaneously amuse, bemuse, seduce, misdirect and enlighten; whilst at another level the plays illustrate the struggle between duty and pleasure – most notably expressed in the struggle between King Henry and Falstaff as they seek to direct Price Hal towards their version of what is ‘right’.

This particular juxtaposition of statecraft and tavern life, warmth and cruelty, humour and harshness, mendacity and generosity, mediated via the person of Prince Hal gives the plays their power. And it is the way these productions embrace those ambiguities and contrasts, mixing the care-full with the carefree, that are their greatest strength. The central performance of Antony Sher as Falstaff combines an intriguing mixture of Falstaffian exuberance with sadness and desperation as his mental and physical gifts begin to lose their power to shape the outside world. This contrast is embodied in two moments: one where occurs after Hal confronts Falstaff with the reality that it was the Prince and Poins that had robbed him on Gad’s Hill: Sher brings a roar of astonishment from the audience as he rebuts Hal’s argument with the brilliantly delivered line ‘By the lord, I knew thee as well as he that made ye’. But equally, it is the way Sher conveys a sense of utter confusion when Hal promises to banish ‘plump Jack’ when he is King that communicates the continual tension between the Falstaffian and Henrician views of the world. But although there is, inevitably, a keen focus on the relationship between Sher’s Falstaff and Hal (played energetically and compassionately by Alex Hassell), what makes this production work so well is the strong ensemble cast. In particular, Jasper Britton plays Bolingbroke as a man with contrasting goals: he is dealing with the knowledge that many of his contemporaries think him guilty of usurping the throne, whilst simultaneously trying to atone for his sins and cement his lineage. Britton skilfully charts Bolingbroke’s descent from physical strength to disease-ridden Infirmity.

A huge amount of the credit for these outstanding productions must also go to the direction of Greg Doran supported by the subtle but excellent designs of Stephen Brimson Lewis. Unlike some Shakespeare productions, where the set and the concept imprison the cast within the director’s worldview, Doran allows the actors to express the story whilst supporting them with meaningful design. Two aspects in particular stand out. In Part 1 the tone is set with a crucifix suspended above the stage, below which sits a crown on a prayer stool: symbols that convey an uneasy combination of implicit divine endorsement, the metonymic burden of the crown and the idea of suffering for the sins of the world. The second is the way that Brimson Lewis uses lighting and projection to create vast, cathedral-like structures that unobtrusively appear and disappear – importing the grandeur of kingly rule and also an inescapable sense of emptiness and temporality.

In summary, this is a subtle, engaging and innovative reading of these two plays, displaying all of their humour and love of life whilst not omitting a rounded exploration of the competing demands of pleasure and duty.

Reviews

(NB: many of these reviews relate to the productions staged at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre prior to their move to London)

The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/17/henry-iv-parts-i-and-ii-review-antony-sher-falstaff

The Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/10772492/Henry-IV-Parts-I-and-II-RSC-review-full-blooded-life.html

The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/henry-iv-parts-i-and-ii-royal-shakespeare-theatre-stratford-upon-avon-review-9269377.html

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/victoria-sadler/review-henry-iv-parts-1-2_b_6314658.html

The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2607432/QUENTIN-LETTS-Huzzah-Prince-Hal-Falstaff-needs-bit-bottle.html

Time Out

http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/henry-iv-part-ii