It’s a big deal. The 600th anniversary of perhaps England’s greatest victory over the French notwithstanding – it’s been a long love-hate relationship, symbolic now on the fields of football and rooted in the nation’s fabric and hand gestures – this production of Henry V also rounds off the Great Cycle of Kings series by the Royal Shakespeare Company, setting it off on tour across China and New York in 2016.
For now, however, we’re fortunate to have Gregory Doran’s production at the Barbican and it’s a stage very befitting of contemporary takes on the Bard. A broad auditorium, a stage unconstrained by a proscenium, and wide, racked seating opens up Shakespeare’s ‘wooden O’ considerably for something as potentially epic as Agincourt. But, alas, in our imagination the epic must remain. Save a thunderous flash and a smattering of smoke, the action is kept very much as Shakespeare had intended. And quite right, frankly, for Henry V is a play less about that famous line – it’s said at the siege of Harfleur anyway – than about the pathos and pragmatism of one of our greatest kings.
For those not so familiar with the play, I should advise its Agincourt climax is short-lived. Instead, we focus on Henry’s kingship and, as with all good drama, it’s the tension in the build-up that tells the story; first, the claim to France, played here with delightful comic touches; then there’s deception and ruthless justice against treachery, the complacency of the French king and the pantomime villainy of the Dauphin, exemplified by the ‘gift’ of tennis balls goading Henry to action, before ‘the few’ set sail for France.
Sea-faring, the heat of battle, and grand court scenes are not the preserve of theatre, and neither does this production attempt it, instead we have Oliver Ford Davies – some may know him as Sio Bibble in Star Wars – in the role of the Chorus, and evidently not having arrived at the theatre in time to change, gifting us with exposition and a delivery that hardly need our “imaginary forces work”. His monologues captivate our attention, enticing us in and setting the scene.
Throughout, of course, the drama is weighed heavily on Alex Hassel’s shoulders in the title role. He has big shoes to fill. Olivier’s Henry catapulted British cinema into the mainstream in 1945, Branagh’s is a contemporary-defining portrayal, to say nothing of Richard Burton, Ian Holm or Ivor Novello. The charisma is there, the stature and the delivery, though it’s just as well the ‘breach’ be brief, because Hassel’s register tapers at the top end such that “once more”, delivered here to rally the audience, is emitted more like a pitched squeak. But, fortunately, rabble-rousing heroics are but a small part of the performance and it’s easy to see why he was cast. The final scenes, Henry’s wooing of Katherine, are some of the most captivating Shakespeare I’ve had the pleasure to witness.
What’s little-known in Henry V is the comedy, and there are some wonderfully light touches throughout this production, most notably from Joshua Richards as Fluellen, the Welshman. His presence on stage bounces the mood and his scenes with his comic matches, Scotsman Jamy and Irishman MacMorris rent peals of laughter from the auditorium. Similarly, the snigger-inducing French lessons between a delightful Jennifer Kirby as Katherine and her ladies-in-waiting is charming, though occasionally the bawdy bard is slightly overdone whenever the men address each other as ‘constable’.
Like popular opera, Shakespeare is branded by famous moments, particular speeches and soliloquy but, as with opera, just to listen out for those and judge their performances is to miss the real masterpiece. To see the RSC’s Henry V in its entirety is to be moved, entertained, even educated. And what better occasion than a big anniversary.
The RSC’s Henry V runs at the Barbican until 24th January 2016 and thereafter as part of ‘Shakespeare’s Great Cycle of Kings’ tour to China and New York. For more information, visit www.kingandcountry.org.uk.
