Thrill of a lifetime
For one of the greatrest theatrical thrills of a
lifetime, see the Royal Shakespeare's Henry V. For two of the greatest thrills,
see it twice.
It is magnificent. It blazes across the Opera House
stage with a newly minted glory so inspiring it makes you want to jump for joy
and want to shout about it from the house tops.
Terry Hands production with this same cast has
already been acclaimed in Stratford, London, New York, Paris, Berlin and other
European capitals. And no wonder.
He has discovered a depth of humanity, comedy and
tragi-comedy that make this totally unlike the usual chauvinistic
tub-thump.
Alan Howard as Henry is the key to this resonance. He
is a private man forced to assume a public mask. Amazingly here is a military
leader who is shy, throughout showing the terrific private cost of his public
acts and utterances.
|
Faultless
And when the mask is thrown away altogether in
the wooing of the French Princess Katharine (a deliciously touching and
heart-warming performance by Carolle Rousseau) the man seems all the more
real.
The rest of the cast are faultless, marshalled
and inspired with a perception and skill that no other theatre in the world
could rival.
Visually, with its fabulous unfolding canopies,
its flowering into costume from rehearsal dress, and its stark, tower-fringed
raked stage, it is stunning, spine-tingling.
Manchester greeted it all with an ovation never
more deserved. |
|
Manchester Evening News, 21.7.1976.