Although the posters around Bristol at the moment advertise this (along with the sequel, Part Two) as one of the "twin summits of Shakespeare's genius", it is in fact the middle part of a trilogy - the first being Richard III, which isn't being staged by the Old Vic to complete the story. It's a bit of a shame, as it would make the current production a little easier to understand (in modern parlance, it's a little like watching The Empire Strikes Back without having seen the original Star Wars film). 

Still, the place was near enough packed out tonight, in a way that no other four-hundred-and-fifty year old playwright can manage.

The situation at the start of play is thus: Richard III has been usurped from his throne by Henry, and a lot of those who were Lords under Richard are not at all happy with this situation, despite Henry being the favoured monarch of the people. 

Richard is murdered, and increasing ill feeling towards Henry starts to creep up in Scotland and Wales. This play tells the first half of the story of how Henry moves to crush the uprising, and also sets up Prince Hal, Henry's son, who in Part Two is to become 

Henry V, as the hero of the final installment.

The set is, as these things at the Old Vic tend to be, impressive and makes full use of the highly mobile stage parts. The backdrop is (most of the time) provided by a set of stairs at each side of the stage, curving round to meet in the middle, with the two middle sections moving back and forth as circumstances dictate.

 The lighting is worthy of the set, and the whole look of the thing - where the actors are positioned on stage during action and for the friezes - has clearly been well thought-out. Before the interval the sounds sometimes seems a little too loud, but afterwards the volume adds to the slowly building menace of the battle, which takes up much of the second act in graphic and imposing form.

The standout performances in the cast are delivered by the central axis of Jamie Bamber (Prince Hal) and Gerard Murphy (Falstaff), with honourable mentions also due to Shaun Dingwall as Hotspur and Jimmy Yuill in the title role. 

The piece is delivered well, with the comedic moments (invariably involving Falstaff in some way) breaking up the tension of the main story nicely, but not overplayed to the point where they undermine the message itself - a message of whether honour really matters, and how much killing in war can be justified by whom. 

The apparent glories of battle are clearly shown for what they really are, and by the end, in the midst of the fight, one is waiting to see what the conclusion of the struggle will bring.

Overall, it's a really very good production of a truly great play. No real weak point at all, and the questions the script raises are made even clearer by the way it's done. In fact, it even seemed to end too soon. And you don't hear that said about Shakespeare very often.

Buy tickets for events:

The Tick List

Story


Set 


Costume 

Cast 

Overall 

Ticket Prices:

£7 To £20
20% off if you book for both at the same time

Sponsors