HENRY VI PART III (Shake-Scene Theatre Company)*****

 

By Megan

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

Available until: Unknown

The acting in Shake-Scene productions is always brilliant. The plots are really clear (though there are probably things I will understand better when I get older) and the actors perform with lots of enthusiasm. They are also the only company who uses cue scripts like Shakespeare did which gives them a real individuality. If you are interested in cue scripts you should definitely watch these plays. It is really interesting and cue scripts really do work.

But even if you just want to watch some really good performances of Shakespeare’s plays, you should still definitely watch these plays.

One of the things I really love about this play is how difficult it is to know what side to be on. Henry VI seems like a much nicer person so I like him better as King but when the Duke of York claims he is the rightful King, it is quite difficult to argue with that. Henry VI has inherited the title from his father, Henry V, which is exactly what you’d expect. Henry VI was given the job of being King and he has always tried to do his best with it

But his grandfather, Henry IV, stole the crown from Richard II. It’s really easy to see why the York side finds this unfair and thinks the crown should go back to the original Royal Family. If we went back even further into history we might find out the Duke of York isn’t really the rightful King either but as far as we know, he has more right to the throne than Henry VI. This is a really interesting situation for the audience to be in. Maybe it’s not like that for everyone but it made it even more interesting when I had such mixed feelings.

Shake-Scene Shakespeare Theatre Company really seems to emphasise this part of the play. Larissa Oates plays Henry VI as she has done all the way through the trilogy and her Henry seems like a really nice man. He’s maybe not so much of a leader as some of the others but he is someone who really wants to do the right thing. He is quite vulnerable in some ways and Ms Oates shows this and really makes us care about Henry and to sympathise with him about everything that happens to him and the decisions he feels pushed into making.

Ellie Zeegan is a very intelligent and determined Duke of York and it’s obvious he is a good leader. His sons are good leaders too. Eleanor Shannon plays his older son Edward. He is strong and powerful and not afraid to make his own decisions. The younger son Richard is played by Tamara Ritthaler and it’s a really great performance. Her Richard is someone else who would be a good leader but there’s something quite sneaky about him. He is going along with what his family wants but there are hints that he has his own agenda too. He is a really interesting character and you can tell he is someone who could cause a lot of trouble in the future.

Warwick has been in all three plays and gradually becomes more important and Henry VI Part III is the play where he really takes control. He’s not in the background, he is running round orchestrating everything and Simon Balcon has played this role brilliantly. It’s like he has gradually helped us to get to know Warwick a bit more with each play and in this one we really get to know what he’s like and what he wants. I think you can probably say that Warwick is always very loyal to whoever happens to be King but in quite an unusual way. (That will make a lot more sense when you watch the play.)

Valentina Vinci is passionate and angry as Queen Margaret and she has lots of screen presence. I actually think the Duke of York and his sons are quite brave to annoy Margaret. Lawrence Carmichael plays lots of roles and I especially like his characterisation of King Lewis. There are lots of death scenes and they are all really powerful but one that stood out especially is Dewi Hughes as Rutland (who is the Duke of York’s youngest son in Henry VI but he was the second oldest to live to be an adult in real life – he was nine years older than Richard). Rutland isn’t a really big character who we have known and cared about all the way through the plays but his death scene was still really sad. Matt Williams brings all his characters to life really well and his Clifford is especially scary. There are so many great actors in this play and even the messengers are given lots of personality.  

I am quite sad this trilogy has finished but I am also excited because the story hasn’t finished. Richard III was streamed earlier this month and it has a lot of the same characters and themes. The Henry VI trilogy has been so exciting to watch and we are really lucky that Shake-Scene are still performing these plays online. There is so much to look forward to, so much to explore if you haven’t watched all their plays already and even if you have watched them once, they are definitely worth watching again. I think even for grown-ups there is always something new to discover.