HENRY 6 PART ONE is one of Shakespeare’s History plays, distinct in genre from the comedies and tragedies. Like the comedies, it has a large ensemble cast. Director Steven Hopley has assembled an impressive team of experienced actors for this production – the first of three history plays he will present this month at the Flow Artist Studio in Camperdown Sydney this month.
To some extent the play seems to be a docudrama – it presents a lot of information on a complicated plot, about the unravelling of peace between England and France forged by Henry 5. The reflective quality of the preceding play, almost a poetic meditation on war, here becomes a fast paced chronicle of the years that followed the death of Henry V – discord within English nobility, and losses by the English on French battlefields.
The play opens with clear declamation and resonant exposition, at the time of the King’s funeral, about the state of England, shared by the Duke of Bedford (Simon Lee), the Duke of Gloucester (Brendan Layton), the Duke of Exeter (Steve Maresca) and the Bishop of Winchester (Leo Domigan). Did the Elizabethan audience know this history, or was Shakespeare like Dickens revealing facts of the nation for the common man through their literary brilliance?
At times the show seems almost pedagogical. Direct speech to the audience, along with messengers and letters, were used, sometimes to share information, sometimes in a nascent soliloquy style that Shakespeare would exploit so thoroughly in the tragedies. Such direct speech could have been done more, and seems to echo an original Globe style. If Henry 5 is immersed in war, Henry 6 is full of reported conflicts and bloodshed.
This Sydney Shakespeare Company production was in the hands of an impressive cast, under the keen guidance of its director. There was uniform, if differing, quality in all performers, and timing, gesture, projection and pace seemed almost flawless, to the extent that exaggerated actions (a sword fight, an army exits) on the simple stage were not out of place. Action flips between England and France – the French leader Charles, first Dauphin then King of France, played by Theo Rule, had a certain Gallic bonhomie to his display of power. His French allies, including the Countess of Auvergne (Amy Silvana Thomas) and Rainier Duke of Anjou (Garrett Cruikshank) joined in the joie de vivre of Charles. The scene between Auvergne, and the English military hero Lord Talbot (Mark Lee) is impeccable as Shakespeare underpins a foiled plot to capture Talbot with a delightful metaphysical play on identity. Needless to say, Thomas and Lee delivered the tete a tete will great style. Likewise Theo Rule delivered a upbeat hymn to the prowess of Joan Pucelle (of Arc), played with convincing bravura by Cassady Maddox Booth.
The English nobles seem much more serious than the French, lining up for a share off power after the loss of Henry V. Chris Miller thrived in his explosive role as the ambitious Richard Plantagenet. Peter David Allison (as Earl of Warwick), Oliver Harcourt-Ham (as the Duke of Burgundy), Brendan Layton (as Duke of Gloucester) and Simon Lee (as Duke of Bedford and Duke of Somerset) all served up with assured skilled types of English nobility, as they divided into the House of York and the House of Lancaster. Logan McArthur acquitted the difficult role of the very young Henry 6, bringing a certain humour to his idealism in the face of the risky volatile state of politics in France and England. Mark Lee was the exception to the sombre tone of English nobility, bring a swashbuckling animated energy to there military hero Lord Talbot.
With a strong ensemble cast it is hard to single out any one performer, just as it is hard to acquit all. Needless to say it was a pleasure to hear and see this show – the audience was gripped by the authority and assurance with which the text was delivered.
The Flow studio had limited theatrical resources – however banners or 2 dimensional arches would have been possible, and quite in keeping with any desire to maintain an original globe style. Were signs used at the time? There were enough changes of place and action going on. The musician could have been used more. The lighting was fixed – including 10 or so theatre spots and house spots (there was sunlight in Elizabethan times in a formal theatre space). There was darkness in places on stage in this show – perhaps this was deliberate. So much was invested in the acting, one might seek some concessions to the appearance of a warehouse interior by way of set and lighting. Finally, a fuller program would have worked for this show. Minor suggestions, that don’t take away from the production’s strengths.
All in all a pleasant surprise. Readers are able to see repeats of HENRY 6 PART ONE later in July and early August, and also two other history plays, by this company at Flow studios, also in July.
I reviewed the performance on Friday 11th July, 2025.
