I Expound On Henry V

Henry V is what happens when Shakespeare watches Braveheart then says, "I could do better than that." Yes, in fact, that instance did not happen, due to time constraints, but Mel Gibson did watch Henry V, and then said, "I could do a version of this that's not as cool - but no one really watches Shakespeare any more, so no one would know."

FUN FACT OF THE DAY: William Wallace's "Freedom" speech in Braveheart is actually based off of King Henry's St. Crispin's Day speech.

Last Saturday, whilst still in London, Mary Kate the Actress took me to see Henry V in the Roundhouse Theatre. Yes, the theatre was named after a martial arts movement, and yes, theatre is spelled with the "e" and "r" reversed, but these are things I can abide. I still cannot abide the English driving on the wrong side of the road.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has assembled a crack team of thespians to put on all eight of Shakespeare's History Cycle plays in one stretch, using the same actors in the same parts, so that the King Henry in Henry V was also Prince Hal in Henry IV, I and II. That's a lot of lines to remember. But I guess that's why they're Royal. Another indication of their pedigree came immediately with the start of the play, when the Chorus began changing his lines, and further on, when characters swapped lines or cut them out. Once again, when you're aristocracy, I guess you feel like even Shakespeare isn't sacred.

Henry V follows this guy, whom we'll call Henry, in the first part of his reign. Formerly a surly youth, once he became king he shaped up and got his act together. The first act sees him calling for an invasion of France, which is everyone's favorite extracurricular activity. Subsequent acts see him breaking bread on some Frenchmen, wearing the blood of his enemies as make-up, and winning both the throne of France and the heart of the French Princess. Basically, he has a really good day.

Given my extensive experience in theatre, I can with a solid countenance delcare this the greatest Henry V ever told. The words, they never change, from production to production, but the Royal Shakespeare guys pulled out the rest of the stops. King Henry and the English spent most of the play past the first act covered in blood; they wore these Matrix uniforms of black trenchcoats and chainmail, which, along with swords, will be how my groomsmen dress. The French characters spent the whole play on trapeze, descending from the ceiling. In true French style, they even had the audacity to jerry rig a piano to be raised and lowered from the roof, a piano which was manned by the Chrous and spent all of its stage time in mid air.

It is commonly known that any play that suspends a piano in mid air is worth its weight in gold. The piano's weight, I mean, because there's no real way to weigh a play.

The explosions and lightning in the Harfluer and Agincourt scenes were icing on a already very delicious cake - given how the play was going, you knew the battle scenes were to be the cat's pyjamas. It was just a matter of waiting. Even in scenes with just two characters and their dialogue (who would emerge out of trap doors in the floor, like military trenches), extras still ran from side to side, in and out of the audience, at full speed, carrying barrels of gunpowder. Unsafe you might say, but I would say...yeah, you're pretty dead on. That is unsafe.

In a few days time the RSC performed a trilogy, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, and Henry V, which would not only be exhausting to the viewer, but one heap of exhaustion to the actors in it. But, again, that's why they're Royal.