Powerful Henry V Production – A Winner In So Many Ways

Oliver Johnstone and Joshua Griffin in Henry V in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe. Photographer - Johan Persson

It is one of the most thought-provoking productions of Henry V I have seen for many a year and it kept me gripped from start to finish.

The Shakespearean classic, a joint production by Leeds Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe and Headlong with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, turns the Bard’s play on its head and, thanks to director, Holly Race Roughan, puts a totally fresh perspective on the timeworn text.

Traditionally quite jingoistic, certainly in Henry’s ‘Once more unto the breach…..” speech, this time we saw in Oliver Johnstone’s English king, a more unsettled, cowering protagonist, publicly behind his own warring antics but, privately, less sure of himself and disinclined to shed his people’s blood in the name of imperialism.

At first he is a naiive young Royal, waiting to take the crown from his rapidly declining father, but, by the end of the play, with victory behind him, he is arrogant and I did not like the man he’d become.

Oliver Johnstone in Henry V. photographer - Johan Persson

But it was that transition of character that made Johnstone’s portrayal quite brilliant and his experience with the RSC, nuance and feel for Shakespeare’s period language, definitely set him apart.

Prince Harry ascends the throne. He takes umbridge at a snub from the French, invades their country to claim the throne and wins against all odds, triumphing over superior French forces at the bloody confrontation on the fields of Agincourt.

Oliver Johnstone in Henry V. Photographer - Johan Persson

The driving theme was very much ‘what it is to be British’ and never before did a production feel so ‘of its time’.

Queen Elizabeth died recently and England has a new King, much like in Shakespeare’s play; Putin is at war with Ukraine and so Henry takes up arms against the French, both in the name of imperialism and ego.

But, for me, it was the ending that had the greatest impact. As Princess Katherine of France (Josephine Callies) – barely able to speak English – prepares to ‘move’ to the ‘UK’ as Henry’s wife, strains of Sir Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem can be heard in the background, as a customs officer reads a list of citizenship questions to the confused Royal: she is undergoing her passport test to become a British citizen!

Director Holly Race Roughan said:
“Shakespeare’s plays are packed with so many universal ideas that they remain intriguingly relevant to contemporary society hundreds of years on.

"However, occasionally, one of his plays speaks to the present moment so directly that it takes your breath away. Staging Henry V with the backdrop of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Brexit, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine feels like one of these moments.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Don’t go expecting lots of period costumes or wild sword play: there’s none of that but what you will witness, is something that fuels your imagination, makes the battles real and, if you’re English, leave you wondering what the past few hundred years have all been about!

w50[Henry V
Leeds Playhouse
Until February 25th
]