Henry V may not be Shakespeare’s most popular play, but it is certainly his most revered, especially in England where it has become a source of national pride. During Propeller’s production of Henry V on March 21st at the Rose Theatre in Kingston an audience member referred to the text as “a marvelous piece of propaganda.” This elicited a good deal of grumbling and disapproval from others in the theater because it is really so much more than that. This is a play about war, about honor, about sacrifice, and about the burden of responsibility. Shakespeare asks his audience to use their imagination and place themselves in the middle of a battle, sympathizing with each character’s fear, loss, and victory. It is extremely effective and amazingly powerful, especially when performed by such talented and hardworking performers as the members of Propeller most certainly are.
This all male acting troupe took Henry V head on, pouring everything they had into the vast array of characters. Each cast member took on two or three roles a piece throughout the play, expertly adjusting their physicality and tone of voice to fit each character. The men who stepped into the female roles did a fantastic job of adopting feminine characteristics and interacting appropriately with the other men onstage. Of course this did add a comedic affect which some might have considered inappropriate, I found that it added another dynamic and took the whole performance on a sort of roller coaster ride, constantly moving from heavy emotions to lighter material. Karl Davies, who played the parts of Katherine, the Boy, and Scroop, was particularly impressive in terms of versatility. The transitions between characters were incredibly fast and seemingly effortless.
These transitions were aided by the use of costumes, each added onto the blank canvas of an army uniform. Even though the context of this production was current events, the character defining aspects of the costumes were almost timeless; the uniforms were the khaki we are all too familiar with thanks to media coverage of current conflicts. The “women” on the other hand were dressed in gorgeous brocade dresses and the noblemen wore distinctly 19th century garb. Far from seeming out of place or mismatched this decision ingeniously divided the characters in terms of class, just as costumes would have done during Shakespeare’s time.
Perhaps it was the simple and versatile sets that enabled this ambiguity in terms of costumes to be so effective. The stage was decorated with several metal scaffolds, one of which could be moved around by the performers. Neutral colored boxes, tables, and chairs were the only other set pieces and were utilized to create a sense of space and not merely as decoration. That being said, the stage was never dull, instead it seemed to leap right into the laps of the audience thanks to endless amount of fog, flying tennis balls, strong incense, and blood squirting everywhere. For once in my life I was delighted to be sitting in the cheap seats; seated right at eye level with the stage I felt fully immersed in the action.
I was extremely happy with the decision to leave out guns from the production; the soldiers carried batons, while Henry himself held a sword. I find the presence of guns in Shakespeare interpretations extremely distracting and out of place in terms of storyline. Even without firearms the violence of this story was in no way diminished. Instead of overly choreographed stage fighting (which can be incredibly powerful if done properly but can easily look over worked and melodramatic) the actors used their weapons on punching bags instead of their fellow performers. This replicated the noise of a real battle and also enabled the actors to approach the violence with real power instead of holding back for the sake of safety.
One of the most impressive aspects of this production was actually the transitions between scenes. Using singing, musical instruments, and even dancing, Propeller made the movements between one setting and another so exciting and engaging that the audience had no time to let their minds wander away from the action. Additionally it revealed the various musical talents of the cast which were particularly impressive. Music from all genres and time periods was used but each piece seemed to fit appropriately with the mood of the corresponding scene.
This production as a whole had a sense of gravity, of passion, and of real love for the words that were being spoken. It was very obvious that it was Shakespeare’s text that inspired these performers and the creative team behind them to put on such a fantastic performance. As someone who had previously only read Henry V and never seen it performed live it was a perfect introduction to a play that is so essential to English history and theatre. I sincerely hope I get the chance to see Propeller work their magic on another Shakespeare masterpiece before too long.
Propeller is currently touring the UK with Henry V and The Winter's Tale http://propeller.org.uk/current-productions/henry-v-and-the-winters-tale
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