Review: RSC's Henry IV Part One. A Triumph.

As you walk into the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, you’ll immediately be struck by the large wooden crucifix hanging above the bare, dimly-lit wooden stage.  It’s a strong image, both on a physical level and a metaphorical one when placed in the wider context of the play; Henry Bolingbroke is now king and Richard II is dead. Henry, wracked with guilt, wishes to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but a political uprising helmed by Richard’s heir Mortimer and the Percy family means that he is forced to delay this trip and risk incurring the wrath of God. Meanwhile, his son, Prince Hal, played by Alex Hassell, is refusing to accept his responsibility of prince and instead spends his time with Sir John Falstaff – an incredible performance by Bard veteran Anthony Sher – in the taverns of Eastcheap generally being badly behaved.

Boys behaving badly

The play is easily one of Shakespeare’s best. I was hugely disappointed with Richard II last year, but I found the seamless juxtaposition of family drama and political thriller taut and gripping. The narrative is told from the perspective of various politically and socially aligned groups. It’s almost like Game of Thrones: Live, and both sides are determined to be the victor.

Jasper Britton is fantastic as a guilt-wracked Henry. This is a man fully aware of the religious implications of his actions, and someone determined to avoid a repeat of the previous King’s disastrous reign. He is further aided by Alex Hassell as a leather-clad, sex-bomb. We first see him under the covers with two women, and as they leave he cops a feel of one of them and coolly chucks the other a pouch of coins. Not only is Hal in denial of his future role as king, he seems to be completely unaware.

When we first see Anthony Sher’s Falstaff, he is passed out in an alcohol-induced stupor. When he awakens, he treats Hal with a sense of paternal caring, but soon, his darker nature starts to appear. He treats Paula Dionisotti’s Mistress Quickly with a misogynistic bluntness, and he even sinks to pillaging the corpses of his fallen allies in the Shrewsbury battle, gleefully plucking a ring from a fleshly slain corpse. This is a man used to manipulating the world for his own gain. He even calls the men he is leading into battle "food for powder, they'll fill a pit as well as better". Prince Hal is horrified, and it is from this moment that we know that this friendship is quickly approaching an inevitable demise.

That’s the best thing about this production: the sense of change. Falstaff is an old-school conman, a swindler, and the sadness in his eyes knows that pretty soon, there won’t be a place in the world for people like him. Mistress Quickly presides over her tavern with a sense of world-weariness, and she seems to be constantly asking herself the immortal question: how long left?

The rest of the cast are strong too, especially Trevor White’s relentlessly unhinged Hotspur. He’d rather be in bed with his wife than acting like a husband, and is blinded by rage towards Henry.

The problem with the production is that it feels very safe. Ivo Van Hove this isn’t. It’s a standard, risk-free production of a Shakespeare play, and Greg Doran needs to be careful or else his formula of purist, traditional dress productions will quickly grow thin.

Next year, Doran will presumably direct Henry V. I can’t wait. This is a triumphant production of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Simply unmissable.

8/10