The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureTheatre

Henry V

Henry V | Theatre review
28 August 2015
Alex Finch
Alex Finch
Avatar
Alex Finch
28 August 2015

Theatre review

Alex Finch

Henry V at Temple Church

★★★★★

Dates

24th August - 5th September 2015

Price

£20-£40

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

France, 1915: World War One is waging outside but a military hospital near the village of Azincourt provides a brief respite for the wounded French and English soldiers. An Englishman arrives and pulls out a book, offering it to his French comrade as an honest but perhaps misjudged token of gratitude. It’s Henry V. Excitement fizzes amongst the soldiers as they decide to stage a production of the Shakespearean play to distract them from the horror of their present reality.

What begins as a tentative and merry expression of camaraderie soon snowballs into a mighty and emotionally shattering performance. Antic Disposition’s production of Henry V offers, on a surface level, all the resplendence and poetics of Shakespeare, at the same time as demonstrating the modern significance, both emotionally and anthropologically, of Shakespeare’s work.

The actors aren’t so much playing Shakespearean soldiers as they are playing World War One soldiers, full of a compassion and menace that perfectly equips them for the roles of Shakespeare’s writing and the mighty men who fought in the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.

The backdrop of the war blazing in the distance brings the issues of the 16th-century play into a modern context, revealing the patterns that make up our world’s history. With a historically important military church for its location and a cast comprised of both French and English actors, the play has a strong sense of rusticity about it.

The acoustics of the church add glamour to the words and amplify the choral interludes into bellowing soundscapes of honour and glory. The ingeniously placed and beautifully sung songs underline the spirit of the allied troops that gave rise to their production, as well as providing a soft balance to the politics and warfare. The standard of acting itself is superb. After a tour of France the cast are, by now, very well-rehearsed, and this shows in the ease and the palpable pleasure with which they perform.

As much as this is a collective success, as in the wars they portray, Freddie Stewart’s Henry V is exceptional. He stretches right down into all the tributaries of his characters and fills them with his intense energy and sharp articulacy. An accomplished and mesmerising play, this ingenious production of Henry V is not to be missed.

★★★★★

Alex Finch

Henry V is on at Temple Church until 5th September 2015, for further information or to book tickets visit here.

Related Itemsreviewshakespeare

More in Theatre

Chicago at Phoenix Theatre

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Tina: The Musical at Aldwych Theatre

★★★★★
Connor Campbell
Read More

The Encounter at the Barbican

★★★★★
Aidan Milan
Read More

Iliza Shlesinger Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall

★★★★★
Ella Navarro
Read More

Gauhar Jaan – The Datia Incident at Omnibus Theatre

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More

Instructions for Correct Assembly at Royal Court Theatre

★★★★★
Connor Campbell
Read More

Voices of America at Sadler’s Wells

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

The Moderate Soprano at Duke of York’s Theatre

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More

Love Me Now at the Tristan Bates Theatre

★★★★★
Juliet Evans
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Alex Finch

Henry V at Temple Church

★★★★★

Dates

24th August - 5th September 2015

Price

£20-£40

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Hide in Mayfair: Dabbous raises the bar of informal fine dining with his new restaurant
    ★★★★★
    Food & Drinks
  • The Vaccines and Whenyoung at Alexandra Palace
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Instructions for Correct Assembly at Royal Court Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Every Day
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Chicago at Phoenix Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Tina: The Musical at Aldwych Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Encounter at the Barbican
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • London’s coffee revolution: How the scene has changed in the last ten years
    Food & Drinks
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Chicago at Phoenix Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Encounter at the Barbican
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Rationalism on Set at Estorick Collection
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Iliza Shlesinger Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

The Offspring at Brixton Academy | Live review
Our Country’s Good at the National Theatre | Theatre review