The Shakespeare Code

A SPECIAL REPORT from…..

TRIXIE THE THEATRE CAT!!!

Brothers and Sisters of The Shakespeare Code…

The Making of a King – Henry V 

…..opened on 24th June, 2015…..

 ……at the HISTORIC Great Barn in Titchfield, Hampshire….

(which was built at time of the Agincourt Campaign)

….to RAVES from the PRESS and the PUBLIC!!!

The DISTINGUISHED Theatre Critic, ED HOWSON…..

 …….writing in the HIGHLY PRESTIGIOUS Daily Echo…..

….stated….

PRESENTED as one of the countrywide events celebrating the 600th anniversary of Agincourt, Stewart Trotter’s seamless adaptation of four plays (one anonymous and three by Shakespeare) all chronicling the life of Prince Harry and his accession to the throne as Henry V, was clearly a labour of love, and one which Titchfield Festival Theatre (TFT) made the most of in director Kris Refevan’s traditional staging at The Great Barn, Titchfield.

On his impressive TFT debut, Chris Mills’ Prince Harry started out with the brashness of youth, drinking and whoring…..

….in the company of Kevin Fraser’s dissolute Falstaff……..

…….growing into a warrior king leading his troops into battle……..

…….while still finding time to woo the French Princess Katherine……..

(another notable Titchfield debut by Lara Cooper-Chadwick)

As the rebellious Harry Hotspur, Joshua Coates turned in another fine performance………

…..and with live period music throughout (Charles Wood)

…….the icing on the cake was Stewart Trotter’s own enjoyably clear narration as The Chorus”.

 

•

Thanks, Ed.

Trixie the Cat is in total agreement!!!

She would add mention of the vibrant, warm and sexy Hannah Wood who plays Doll Tearsheet…..

 ……harlot and mistress of ‘The Sow’s Head’ Tavern’ in Eastcheap…

 

…….who loves her clients as much as they love her!!!

 

And the delightful Toby Bennett……

…… in the role of Francis, the little orphan boy Doll has taken under her wing….

 ….who mischievously pours salt into Falstaff’s sack….

….and is taken off to war by Falstaff’s oafish side-kicks….

……Peto (John Boyle) and Bardolph (David Launder)…

(‘No need to pack, Francis. You can steal all you need in France’)

Francis, though, ends up dead as King Henry’s page at Agincourt…

(‘I was not angry till I came to France/Until this instant’)

Your Cat’s eye was also drawn to Dan Cox as an utterly convincing Poins….

 …..wideboy, petty crook, alcoholic and louche friend of Prince Hal and Falstaff….

Your Cat also noticed Samuel F. Bowers as the thuggish, swaggering sheriff….

…..who drops like a sycophantic stone when he encounters Prince Hal….

 

…..and David Lee as the dour, dark, guilt-ridden…

Sire of Harry, Henry IV….

….who, in the words of the play,…..

…..yearns for Holy War,

In part to honour sacred Jesu’s name….

But mostly to prop up his dubious reign…..

 After fights, reconciliations and more fights with his son, Prince Hal…..

….Henry IV laughs himself to death at the trick the universe has played on him….

He was told he would die in Jerusalem……

…..and he took that to be the Middle East….

…..but it was the name of his bedchamber in Westminster!!!

And so I meet my end where I do lie;

In THIS Jerusalem doth Harry die…

What Your Cat LOVED about this version of the plays is that, again in its own words, it…..

Tells the tale of dissolute Prince Harry,

Who, more in love with taverns than with courts

And constant comrade to a gross fat knight

Transformed upon his father Henry’s death

Into the star of England….

….IN ONE SINGLE EVENING!!!

 We see just how painful it is for him to reject his outrageous, drunken old friend, Falstaff…..

 

…..and to sign the warrant for Bardolph’s execution for stealing church property….

We see him forging bonds with his father’s loyal old friend, the Earl of Westmoreland (Alan James)

…and growing stronger in friendship and amity with his estranged brother, Prince John (Frank Hussey)…..

For Your Cat, two of the highlights of the show were the hilarious ‘robbery’ at Gadshill….

…where we see….

the robbers robbed….

….and Falstaff’s extempore drilling of a bunch of hopeless, raw recruits…..

Frankie Patterson as the wise, peace-loving Duchess of Burgundy…..

……knocks together the heads of the warring Kings of England and France at the end of the play…..

…..and it is a delight to see King Henry winning over the not TOO reluctant Princess of France…..

Do you teach her English?

….asks the Duchess of Burgundy……

No, she teaches me French!

….replies the King…..

The Making of a King shows Prince Henry, in battle, going through a dark night of the soul…..

…… when he begins to think all political power is meaningless.

But he throws himself into the hands of God….

And God grants him victory at Agincourt….

 

All told The Making of a King is a celebration of England…..

…..and English values…..

…..which culminates, appropriately enough, in a joyous dance….

…..choreographed by Hannah Wood….

 

The show was beautifully lit by Mike Andrews……

…. and brilliantly directed by the mysterious, reclusive Swede, Kris Refevan….

All the photographs from the show were taken by Rich Patterson.

•

Kevin Fraser, who plays the rip-roaring Falstaff, is also the Director of the WORLD-FAMOUS Titchfield Festival Theatre……..

…..and I spoke to him backstage, after the show…..

…..as he struggled out of his padding…..

…..and sank exhausted into his chair.

That was great, Kevin….

I purred….

Kevin smiled and pointed wearily to a huge pile of papers on his dressing table…..

Look at these, Trixie….

….he said…..

I’ve been INUNDATED with e-mails!!!

Kevin picked up two at random and handed them to me….

Brothers and Sisters, I was so excited by what I read that I copied them in shortpaw…..

Here’s the first….

(No names, no pack drill!)

(1) Last evenings performance of Henry V – The Making of a King was magnificent. The comments I heard at the interval and at the end of the evening were very, very complimentary with two of my ladies, who are ardent Shakespeare “Groupies” who have been regulars at The Barbican and The Globe in London and of course at Stratford-upon- Avon, were so full of praise for your production. Please pass our congratulations and sincere thanks for a wonderful evening onto all members of the cast and back stage crew.

And here’s the second….

(2) How do you do it? I don’t often put pen to paper ( or keyboard to screen!) but what a whirlwind brilliant production. From start to finish we were all three enthralled. We were half expecting this to be a long evening, 4 plays in one – but what an experience. As usual we will spread the word. Fantastic! Pass on our best wishes to everyone who without fail made this a night to remember.

Kevin then told me, with an entrepreneurial smile, that the very moment the show opened…..

…. the Box Office went through the roof!!!

To celebrate, Kevin, the entire cast and crew and myself, then hot-pawed it down to the Queen’s Head in Titchfield….

…..where, in the words of the play we all

Drank an English toast for Harry’s sake….

…and for the sake of the whole Titchfield Festival Theatre….

‘Bye now

•

To find out WHY the Box Office went through the roof….

Read the entire play by clicking: HERE!

The Rights of the play are now available….

PERHAPS TO YOUR COMPANY!!!

P.S Brothers and Sisters of The Shakespeare Code might also be interested in…

1. Why did Shakespeare write the King Henry plays? Click: HERE

2. The character of Falstaff. Click: HERE

3. Why Falstaff is fat. Click: HERE

P.P.S. The Code agents are busily at work on our next post……

‘The Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost as Queen Elizabeth’.