Henry V - Review by Sean Brooks

** (2 Stars)

Noël Coward Theatre - Wednesday 4 December, 2013

Over the last fifteen months, the newly-formed Michael Grandage Company has produced a wealth of critically successful shows at the Noël Coward Theatre. These include: Privates on Parade (with Simon Russell Beale); Peter and Alice (with Ben Wishaw and Judi Dench); The Cripple of Inishmaan (with Daniel Radcliffe) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Sheridan Smith and David Walliams). To round off this season Jude Law takes on one of Shakespeare’s most famous roles in Henry V.

Directed by Michael Grandage, Henry V tells the story of the English victory over France at the Battle of Agincourt despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered… I think.

The current Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, recently admitted that when watching Shakespeare: “For the first 15 minutes… I haven’t the faintest idea what they’re talking about”. For me, it was the entire show.

This may be sacrilegious to say, but I don’t particularly enjoy Shakespeare, predominantly because I can’t understand what’s going on. I have seen many Shakespeare productions and have studied countless texts at school – the usual Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream etc. but it’s only after in-depth analysis and discussion that I can finally get my head around what Shakespeare’s trying to say. This is obviously not possible when watching a production, so I rely on the acting. Even then, I don’t really understand the reasoning behind the actions of the characters and can often not tell whether a character is supposed to be acted in a certain way.

A giant curved stockade frames the action – representing the ‘O’ of the Globe Theatre. The cast is dressed in medieval clothing except for the Chorus (Ashley Zhangazha) who is in modern-day dress, a large Union Jack on his t-shirt. The purpose of this perhaps to show how Shakespeare is timeless?

Law is a believable war leader, convincingly rallying the troops with the stirring “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”. The best moment, for me, however, was his attempts to woo Princess Katherine (Jessie Buckley). Here, he is charming and wonderfully humorous. Sadly, this was the last scene and by this time I’d lost all interest in the play.

It was also difficult to establish what the point of the play is. Is it anti-war? Pro-war? The ambiguities were increasingly frustrating.

Henry V has been incredibly well-received by critics and audiences, however, I do not agree with putting Shakespeare on a pedestal and dismissing any one who thinks otherwise. His influence on theatre is unquestionable, but I refuse to believe that not understanding Shakespeare does not mean you don’t understand theatre. I’m not ashamed to say that Shakespeare does nothing for me. It’s a matter of personal taste and it’s completely wasted on me.

Henry V is playing at the Noël Coward Theatre until 15 February, 2014. Book your tickets here: https://tickets.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/index.asp?ShoID=1105