Henry V by William Shakespeare.
Directed by Marion Potts.Set and
costume designer Anna Tregloan. Lighting designer Verity Hampson. Composer and
sound designer Jethro Woodward. Movement, intimacy and fight director Nigel
Poulton. Voice director Jack Starkey-Gill. Bell Shakespeare. The Playhouse.
Canberra Theatre Centre. April 10-20. Bookings; 6275 2700 or
canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Bell Shakespeare has brought a
right royal production of Shakespeare’s most patriotic history play to
Canberra. Henry V is a sequel to Henry lV and a prequel to Henry Vl, . The trilogy traces the rise
and fall of the Plantagenet royal line. On the death of Henry lV, the king’s son
assumes the throne after a wild and dissolute youth. Through his surprising
transformation Prince Hal becomes the warrior king and through conquest and marriage
unites the nations of France and England. Shakespeare in deference to his patroness
Queen Elizabeth describes the war and eventual peace after the heroic battle of Agincourt in 1415.
There is a fierce muscularity to
director Marion Potts’ production. It is the muscularity of youth. It is the
muscularity of action underscored by Jethro Woodward’s
dramatic composition and sound design. The
moveable steel platforms, hanging chains and suspended boxing bag of Anna Tregloan’s
design lend the production an atmosphere of high tensile vigour and fluidity.
Bell Shakespeare’s
Henry V is a
production for our time, resounding with the inevitability of human
conflict
that since the play’s time has
seen its wars played out through the centuries. It is impossible to watch
Potts’ dynamic and revelatory production without the perspective of our time.
Is Vlodomy Zelensky a contemporary Henry V? Is he the comedian turned President
and transformed to a war hero? A long bow perhaps? And what of the
interpretation of the Salic Law that justified Henry’s attack on France. What
of Putin’s justification of his illegal invasion of Ukraine? Shakespeare’s
mirror is clearly held up to human nature, to ambition, to treachery, to man’s
inevitable propensity to wage war. One man’s war hero is another man’s war criminal.
Echoes of Gaza are close by.
Potts’ directorial brilliance is
evident in every moment of this compelling drama. The play is cleverly edited
to create economy of action and clarity of plot and dialogue. The chorus to the
swelling scene is assumed by different characters at different times. Sub plots
are either pared back or discarded so that the audience is entirely engaged in
Henry’s campaigns and eventual victory. The play is after all propaganda and it
is no coincidence that Laurence Olivier created the film version during World
War ll
to drive the English once more
unto the breach. Played mostly in contemporary street clothes and using
microphones and lap tops, Potts and her cast and creatives have fashioned a
Henry V that is immediately recognizable.
Nigel Pulton’s combat movement accompanied by Woodward’s
percussive force and haunting sound design
and using Ann Tregloan’s steel setting propel the action with forceful
stylization. This is a
Henry V that
imbues Shakespeare’s word and action with startling contemporary relevance.
In the title tole of Henry V JK
Kazzi gives an extraordinary performance. The wild recklessness of the larrikin
prince can still be seen in his mercurial energy and drive, but it is now
tempered by the burden of responsibility and a dedication to duty. Kazzi’s
Henry dazzles with
charisma .His command
of the role whether urging his soldiers on on the battlefield or awkwardly
wooing the French King’s daughter Katherine (played with delicious naivety by
Ava Madon)not only stamps Kazzi as an exciting up and coming star on the
Australian stage but a definitive performer of Shakespeare’s golden monarch.
Pivotal to the dynamism of the
production is Potts’ superb casting.
Apart
from Kazzi, the names of her ensemble of actors reflect multicultural origins,
and possibly a reminder of the far reaching scourge of war. Jack Halabi plays
the arrogant Dauphin. Alex Kirwan
is the
loyal Westmoreland. Odile Le Clesieu plays Katherine’s maid Alice. Harrison
Mills plays the traitor Scroop. Henry’s dutiful ally Exeter is played by Ella
Prince. Jo Turner is the King of France. Mararo Wangai plays the French herald
Montjoy. Understudies are Rishab Kern and Ziggy Resnick
To firmly entrench the play’s
characters in reality,members of the French
court speak French while English surtitles appear above.
Bell Shakespeare’s
Henry V faithfully paints the portrait
of the play’s events and time. But Potts and her company skilfully and with
startling imagination reveal the universal character of war. It is a sober
reminder of human nature’s fatal flaw and the heroism that can rise from the
horrors of war.
Bell Shakespeare’s
Henry V offers a rare opportunity for
audiences to see the past reflected and recognized
in the mirror of our time. This theatrical
triumph is not to be missed.
