It started with a diss… England's King Henry V is gifted tennis balls by the Dauphin of France – a dig at his hedonistic youth. Alas, a riled Hal, already seeking to (spuriously) claim the French throne, declares war… But things aren't as they seem.
Indeed, director Damien Ryan's production of Henry V for Bell Shakespeare is innovative, being a play within a play, performed by school students bunkered down in London during the Blitz, their sets and costumes improvised from the classroom. It's intimate and immersive – with dramatic lighting, sound effects and music. Today the work, centred on England's unlikely victory at the Battle of Agincourt, is contentious with its fervent nationalism. Commendably, Ryan both implicitly critiques past interpretations of Henry V – chiefly Laurence Olivier's borderline WWII propaganda film – and the glorification of war by exploring Shakespeare's murky subtext.
Michael Sheasby (A Place To Call Home) is a fascinating Henry – less the heroic orator than a charismatic, Machiavellian leader. While the stage choreography impresses, the many characters are at times indistinguishable, all actors bar Sheasby juggling multiple roles. However, any confusion does, ironically, heighten Henry V's atmosphere of wartime chaos.
