The director and actor from Henry IV part II speak to LS about their new production

OK, so are you expecting me to have revised Part I?
Definitely not! You don’t have to know Part I or Henry V to understand the play. Although it is part of a wider narrative, and we do open with a very brief section of Part I to contextualise, Part II has interesting qualities and subjects all of its own. The play centres around Prince Hal’s fundamental dilemma: will he continue to enjoy his drunken lowlife in a tavern with Falstaff and his friends, or will he rise to the responsibility of taking over the country from his increasingly sick father and attempt to prevent chaos and disorder? This is what we will be focussing on in our portrayal. The politics is the circumstance, rather than the main subject.

And did the politics attract you to the play?
Partly, but what is also appealing now is the fact that it’s not frequently performed. I think that the sheer amount of particular Shakespearean reproductions results in a tendency of, “let’s make Macbeth a caveman!” or “let’s do Hamlet on Ice!” The Shakespeare often gets lost in the desire to just do something different, and there’s an advantage in not having that anxiety.

No lions playing King Henry then. So would you recommend it as a Valentine’s date?
Well, of a cast of eighteen strong, two are females, both of which are prostitutes, so it’s certainly an alternative to Richard Curtis! But actually, the men are always at their most honest around the women; they can’t spend too long around them, for fear of facing up to what they really are.

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