HENRY VI PART I (Shake-Scene Shakespeare Theatre Company)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare

Available until: Unknown

Half-term is traditionally a time when children have fun and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to watch the three parts of Shakespeare’s Henry VI over five days. It sounds quite a lot because even the shortest one (this one) is nearly four hours long but it’s by Shakespeare and it’s presented by Shake-Scene Shakespeare Theatre Company so I knew it was going to be really good.

Henry VI Part I is a very interesting play for lots of reasons but one reason is that it wasn’t the first play about Henry VI to be written by Shakespeare. It’s hard to check things like this and be completely accurate because there weren’t proper records kept but it’s believed he started with Part II, then he wrote Part III and finally he wrote Part I so it’s like a prequel. It also comes after most of the other history plays chronologically but they were also written later so they’re kind of like prequels too. So it’s a bit like Star Wars (which is a very good set of films but I love Shakespeare best).

Henry VI was the son of Henry V and the grandson of Henry IV, who stole the crown away from Richard II. Most people seemed quite happy with that but the Plantagenets believe they are the true Royal Family and they want the crown back. Henry VI is a nine month old baby when he becomes King and even at the end of the play he’s still quite young so there’s not much he can do about it but what if the people who are supposed to be looking after you are really out for themselves?

Shake-Scene Shakespeare Company’s Henry VI Part I opens brilliantly with all the actors grabbing you right from the start and it continues to be at this high standard for the whole play. Some people think of it is one of Shakespeare’s weaker plays but they probably haven’t seen Shake-Scene perform it. The characters are performed in a really distinctive way and it is easy to sympathise with most of them (and if you can’t sympathise with them then they’re people you love to hate).

The fight scenes are really good. There isn’t anything really nasty which is how I prefer it and it’s at a really good sort of halfway point between comedy fighting and real fighting. The production doesn’t try to pretend that the actors aren’t in the same room (they aren’t even all in the same continent) and they really do have fun with this but at the same time the fight scenes have a sort of urgency about them that makes them feel really serious and dangerous at the same time.

The production also has a bit of reincarnation which is really nice and works really well. Eugenia Low who played Mortimer in Henry IV Part I plays a different Mortimer in Henry VI Part I. They were uncle and nephew so it makes sense for them to look alike. Ms Low portrays Mortimer’s physical weakness really movingly and her many other roles include a gently flirty Margaret and an amazingly quick costume change into a Shepherd.

The other reincarnated character is Sir John Falstaff who dies in Henry V but he’s back! He’s called Fastolf in later versions of the play which is the name of a real person but the real Fastolf is thought to be one of the people who inspired the fictional Falstaff so they are kind of the same person. The original Falstaff was brilliantly portrayed by Matt Williams for Shake-Scene but in this production they have a different Falstaff: Siegffried Loew-Walker whose performance is lots of fun and really makes me want to see him as Falstaff in the other plays.

The title character is played by Larissa Oates. She has played a lot of Shakespeare’s Boy characters and she plays three very different ones in this play. Henry VI is usually played as quite a weak, frightened character but Ms Oates’ Henry VI is much stronger and this works really well too. He seems like he’s trying to be confident but he’s still only a boy so he doesn’t really know what he’s doing yet. Ms Oates is also really moving as Young Talbot who shares scenes with his father Talbot who is commandingly performed by the brilliant Alexandra Kataigida.

There really is so much brilliance in this cast and I could write paragraphs about all of them but here are just a few. Jenny Coverack is a commanding Exeter and I love how outraged she is as the Countess. Charlotte Gallagher’s performance as Dauphin is even more incredible than her moustache. I think even Hercule Poirot would be jealous. Valentina Vinci is a manipulative Bastard (that sounds really rude but the character’s name is actually Bastard, it says so in the text).

Simon Balcon is a charismatic Warwick but he’s obviously got an agenda and it will be very interesting to see how he develops his character. Ellie Zeegan is an intelligent and steely Duke of York, he’s another one you need to keep your eye on (and Ms Zeegan really is great to watch, she reacts to everything). Suzanne Marie Taylor is really outstanding as Joan of Arc. She puts so much power and passion into the role but I didn’t just admire her as a character, I really felt a lot of sympathy for her too. It is a truly magnificent performance.

I enjoyed Henry IV Part I so much and I can’t wait for the next one. I’m so glad it’s half-term so I can watch this at last.