A couple of years ago at Grosvenor Park (and indoors at
Storyhouse), director Loveday Ingram brought us a Julius Caesar that very
boldly presented the title role as a thinly disguised Donald Trump, pledging to
Make Rome Great Again. It was a parallel that worked extraordinarily well on so
many levels and really made the play feel urgent and relevant.
Once again aiming for a contemporary edge on Shakespeare,
this season she brings us a modern day Henry V. Here England has declared war
on a France that has exchanged its Tricolour for the European Union flag. The
inference is obvious but this Brextian take on the story is an awkward fit.
Certainly the play has strong themes about the lines between national pride and
jingoism, and strong leadership and self-interest, but there is only so far you
can take the idea before it feels uncomfortably shoehorned in.
Ingram creates a powerful beginning by dividing the lines
for the Chorus among the supporting cast members. Emerging from the audience,
the actors declaim this opening text as they step down to take their places in
the centre of the park’s ‘Wooden O’. Among what follows there are some very
committed performances from the ensemble, although vocal projection is uneven.
Joseph Millson in particular is a strong casting choice for Henry, and he pulls
it off with great charisma. Sadly though, much of his dialogue fails to reach
the terraces, and in some of the pivotal scenes in which he begins to question
his own actions the text is lost entirely, unable to compete with the blustery
winds of a Cestrian summer.
Millson does bring real weight to some of Henry’s big
speeches, in particular those at Harfleur and Agincourt, one of which is
delivered from atop a ladder, where he is held aloft to rally his troops.
The action scenes are very well choreographed and executed,
the stage filled with noise and energy and this is where the open air setting
really adds atmosphere to the work. There is also much good comic mileage to be
made from the scenes with Pistol, Bardolph and Nym, and this is mined for all
its worth by Samuel Collings, Jessica Dives and Mitesh Soni.
The final act with Henry’s proposal to Katherine can often
appear incongruous. Here it feels like an epilogue, and is of course wound up
with the reappearance of the chorus. They close the play as it began in a part
divided among a handful of actors. This is a thoughtful and energetic reading
of Shakespeare’s history which battles valiantly against the elements and,
occasionally, its directorial concept.
Henry V continues in repertory at Grosvenor Park Open Air
Theatre until 25th August.
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| Henry V - Picture (c) Mark Carline |
Star Rating: Three Stars
This review was originally written for and published by Good News Liverpool
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