Alfred Enoch returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company, again under the direction of co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, as the title character in Henry V - a production which reframes and interrogates the legend of England’s warrior king.

The play tells the tale of British success against the odds on the battlefield at Agincourt, with famously rousing military speeches, and King Henry heroically leading his troops into battle. Even in Shakespeare’s time, the story is told through the rosy lens of historical nostalgia, for a great victory achieved nearly 200 years previously. 

Harvey’s production mutes Henry’s shining reputation, presenting a still young king who is unnerved by the sequence of events which has placed the crown on his head - his father, Henry IV, was not of royal lineage, instead rising to the throne at the expense of King Richard II.

Throughout the production there is a sense of royal fragility, from the opening scene, which is borrowed from Shakespeare’s earlier play, Henry IV Part Two. The French royal family are equally given depth through effective directorial choices - from the fragile King (Jamie Ballard) and his desperate Queen (Catrin Aaron), to their children, the cocksure Dauphin (Michael Elcock) and princess Katherine (Natalie Kimmerling). 

This intentionally retrospective angle shows Henry V less as a hero - he is more introspective, and is brought closer to the audience through his musings. Simultaneously, Alfred Enoch brings into the foreground the King’s younger self - the wayward Prince Hal, seen in Henry IV Parts One & Two - showing a newly-appointed King who is at times self-aggrandizing and mercurial, although the character is saved from being unlikable by the actor’s charismatic presence on stage. 

In some ways, it’s a shame that the RSC hasn’t treated us to an epic three-part series, allowing Enoch to tackle Hal’s transition into Henry more comprehensively. Sometimes the scale of the story feels too big to be reined in to a single play, and Henry’s relationship with his one-time drinking buddies - Bardolph (Emmanuel Olusanya), Nym (Ewan Wardrop) and the extravagantly clownish Paul Hunter as Pistol - could be more impactful. 

The design of the production (by Lucy Osborne) is expansive, with a huge but sparse scaffolding structure stretching high into the air. The cast climb into this structure, part of the stylized movement direction by Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster, which conjures up dramatic fight sequences without bloodshed. This is not a lighthearted production, but there are plenty of comic moments - sometimes uncomfortably close to demonstrations of brutality. 

The play as a whole has been stretched and manipulated, to tell the story of Henry V as it has never been told before. The visuals are epic, and the performances thought-provoking - there is much to unpack in this multi-faceted production.

Four Stars

Henry V was reviewed on Tuesday 24 March by Jessica Clixby at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, where it shows until Saturday 25 April