HENRY V. RSC STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
As you’d expect of one of Shakespeare’s history plays, Henry V is built around themes of power, leadership and war. It follows the transformation of the once wild Prince Hal into a king who leads his country into battle.
Under Tamara Harvey’s assured direction, in collaboration with movement director Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster, this is a version of Henry V that feels fresh, inventive and strikingly physical. Shakespeare’s familiar political and military drama is reimagined through movement and ensemble work in a way that gives the play a renewed sense of urgency and theatricality.
The simple scaffolding-style set proves an inspired choice by designer Lucy Osborne. It creates a flexible and dynamic playing space that allows the cast, alongside the young supernumeraries, to evoke the scale of battle and the sheer number of bodies caught up in war. Actors climb, fall, hang and drape themselves across the structure. It shifts and revolves to become different locations used to full effect.
Some of the most memorable moments come through movement rather than text. Scenes that use almost balletic physicality to convey battle are incredibly effective, never prettifying violence but instead making it feel earthy, grounded and brutally human. Supported by evocative lighting and sound, these sequences capture the dirty, exhausting grittiness of war. There is one particularly beautiful moment of stillness as the fallen are covered by a vast expanse of cloth, a quiet and haunting image that cuts through the patriotic rhetoric and reminds us of the reality beneath the glory.
That tension between heroism and human cost runs through the production. This is, of course, a play about Henry’s desire to leave behind the recklessness of youth and establish himself as a brave, strategic and commanding leader, one capable of inspiring loyalty while also being ruthless in pursuit of the French throne. Yet while Henry V is often remembered for its stirring speeches and nationalistic fervour, Shakespeare also gives us a far more complicated picture of war.
This production leans into that complexity. Alongside the call-to-arms grandeur are moments that ask harder questions: what is the true price of war, and who pays it? Ordinary soldiers worry about death, survival and the families they may leave behind. There are pointed exchanges about whether kings are morally responsible for the men who die in their name. In those scenes, the production allows the heroic image of Henry to become more ambiguous, which gives the play far greater depth than a simple patriotic rallying cry. It all feels very timely given world events.
There are, of course, the standout moments audiences come to Henry V for, and they are delivered with real force here. The St Crispin’s Day speech lands as it should, full of conviction and adrenaline, while Henry’s disguised walk among his soldiers on the eve of battle provides one of the play’s most revealing and intimate passages. Both scenes are handled with clarity and purpose, and they anchor the emotional heart of the evening. Alfred Enoch brings vibrant energy to the title role, capturing Henry’s youth and determination while also suggesting the burden of the crown beginning to settle on his shoulders. There is a brightness and charisma to his performance, but also enough steel to make clear that this is a king learning how to wield authority. He is well supported by a strong company who give the production both gravitas and texture.
Michael Elcock is particularly entertaining as The Dauphin, playing him with exactly the right mix of vanity, arrogance and youthful foolishness. His desire to provoke war with his distant royal relation is presented less as calculated strategy and more as immature posturing.
There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments throughout the production. Paul Hunter’s despicable Pistol brings a wonderfully mincing physical humour to the stage, creating a character who is both ridiculous and revealing. For some, war is about survival, self-interest and the hope of financial gain. That thread gives the comic material a darker edge.
Sion Pritchard also brings plenty of comic bite as Fluellen, particularly in his scenes with Pistol. His righteous exasperation is beautifully judged, and the moment in which he wields a leek with surprising authority provides audience-pleasing laughs.
More light relief comes in the French scenes, particularly those involving Katherine, daughter of the King and Queen of France. Natalie Kimmerling gives her a poised, intelligent and quietly playful presence. The scenes in French are among the production’s funniest, especially those built around mispronunciation and misunderstanding. However the final bilingual ‘wooing scene’ feels a little tacked on and ultimately coercive.
That balance of spectacle, seriousness and humour is one of the production’s greatest strengths. It never loses sight of the scale and political significance of the story, but nor does it become weighed down by its own importance. Instead, it finds fluidity, contrast and emotional variety, allowing the audience to engage not only with Henry as a national icon, but also with the ordinary people swept up in the consequences of his ambition.
This Henry V is both accessible and theatrically rich. At 2 hours 20 minutes, it moves at pace and never outstays its welcome, helped by a quality cast and a production style that keeps finding inventive new ways to tell a very familiar story. In Harvey’s hands, this is not simply Shakespeare’s account of a king marching to war, but a vivid and thoughtful exploration of leadership, image, pride, sacrifice and the human cost that lies behind grand speeches. It’s particularly timely given what’s going on in the world right now.
Photo Credits: Johan Persson
