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The Shadow Of War

Rehearsals for the National Theatre production of Henry V began against the backdrop of UN negotiations to avert a war in Iraq, and continued through the preparation and outbreak of the conflict as the Rehearsal Diary reports. The parallels between events in the real world and the play resonated throughout the production. Director Nicholas Hytner chose the play for its contemporary relevance, but had not anticipated the actual turn of events. As he explains, the play has lent itself to use as a propaganda vehicle by both pro- and anti- war factions in the past. He was determined to get beyond such simplistic readings to something more complex and sceptical about the way war is justified and conducted. For Robert Blythe who played Captain Llewellyn the moral ambiguity of this approach gives the play great contemporary appeal , heightened by the decision to make it a modern dress production. Even the rifles used in the play were the same as those in current use by the British army.

The argument in the media over the grounds for going to war found an echo all through the play: from the opening scene when the Archbishop of Canterbury produces a justification, to the climax on the eve of the battle of Agincourt, when Henry in disguise encounters Michael Williams, a loyal soldier tortured by doubt about the justice of the King's war. "But if the cause be not good ," Williams tells him, "the King himself hath a heavy reckoning to make." See actor David Kennedy play Michael Williams in a scene from a workshop based on the play.

 

From the National Theatre
Henry V
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People
Robert_Blythe Robert Blythe
Actor
Nicholas_Hytner Nicholas Hytner
Director
Issues
England At War
Connections: The King | Playing Soldiers | Images of War
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